A Fishy Can't Change It's Scales (Chyril 25th, eveningtide)

[Elsor]

((Ooc: Please see Ventures for background information.))

Today had been a trying day both on nerves, excitement and one's ability to lug a heavy sack with all one's possesions in it. Elsor doggedly trudged to the Harbour Gates where she looked forward to chatting with some newcomers until the moon was high, and she could dive without anyone following.

As she made her way around, she saw some faintly familiar faces. Familiar as in always seen the face, but never the name. Passing acquaintences, one might say. The achadhiel ruffled her hair and kept her head down, should a guard spot her and think she was 'up to something', counting on seeing her last time she attempted to help someone and got a stern talking to as a reward.

"Good eveningtide sir. And to you ma'am."
Touching her forefinger to her temple, as most gentlemen do when they meet people on the street, she grinned that her disguise was already working so well and that, so far, only two people in the Citadel knew her true gender.

She stopped by a stall selling bread to buy a loaf before coming to the Habour Gates.
"It seems like ages since I've been here.." She murmured, going up to a guard to ask if she was allowed through.

[Craghley]

OOC: Apologies for the delay - let's get this show on the road, shall we?
On another note, remember that you can be in multiple threads at one time so long as they do not overlap in time, and don't have conflicting IC events/consequences. Elsor's escapade with the gang and Harbuck would have taken her into early Tradetide, so you could make a thread for that time if you want. Maybe Elsor visits the Burpin' Dragon, else she whiles away some time at the Bardic college, or mayhap visits a temple of her choice. Feel free to have fun and explore!

[hr][/hr]
The guard was short, fat, and - courtesy of a downwind breeze - stank of sour sweat. He wore that familiar dark blue tabard but that and the hodge-podge armour was the only thing that denoted him as a member of the City Guard. He was slouched against a wall, chewing thoughtfully on an apple at the time Elsor passed by. His eyes strolled up and down the meagre length of her body before a twitch of the head, in the direction of the Harbour, told her that he didn't really care either way, but may as well please herself and pass through.

The scene that met her was... dynamic. The last ships of the day coming, people rushing to get to their homes wherever they were as they finished the days' business - or heading to one of the several pubs and taverns. Nonetheless people were still working. Hordes of wharf hands, traders, and the like still bustling about loud with action. A group of about eight humans attracted Elsor's attention, milling about by the waters' edge. To her relief the harbour's water was deathly calm, kept still by the Western Mole which separated it from whatever serene or savage weather affected the main beyond.
These eight people wore snug shorts, and cloth bindings around the chest for the women, but nothing else. They were also dripping wet and laughing as they chatted, snacking lightly from little canvas sacks while they lounged about. Certainly the most likely candidates for divers.

[Elsor]

Ooc: Thanks!! I'll go and busy Elsorself.

Elsor passed through the gates and walked over to where the humans were sitting. The Achadhiel felt a little self-conscious, seeing as she was supposed to be posing as a boy, this diving thing made it near impossible. Unless she took the boat out....
Elsor shrugged and hid the sack as best she could after taking out her diving materials, which consisted of her knife, her purse and her strip of cloth, which she took from her hair as it's use for a bandanna and tied the purse around her leg with the knife inside it's sheath, so she had her hands and legs free for swimming.
The sun was setting, casting an unearthly red glow across the sea as Elsor neared the water's edge and tested it. It seemed to be warm and salty - as the sea always was.

Elsor unlaced her boots and threw them in her rowboat. The tunic that she had bought for her trip had been torn into some sort of swimming costume, at least to start off with until she found a convenient time to dive in her usual manner.
With some difficulty, the achadhiel managed to tie her chest strip on beneath her tunic and slide on the pants that had been torn to three-quarter length all whilst lying in the bottom of her boat. It rocked from side to side as Elsor shakily stood up and lunged for the water in a shallow dive, narrowly missing the pier.

As she entered the lukewarm water the cool rush of liquid past her ears made her feel more fluid, made her feel like she was moving like her mother did, like she should. She arched her back and resurfaced as smoothly as an eel. She didn't feel out of breath as she same up and flicked her hair out of her face as she looked for the telltale signs of clam settlement.[/hr]

[Craghley]

The group of divers spared her little attention. Their food had been hard-earned and they spoke animatedly with their mouths full, lounging on the pier. But they spared her a couple of glances.
The water harbour water was indeed warm, having soaked in the mighty days' heat and only now releasing it as the sun relented. Perhaps the West Mole had something to do with it, calming waterflow between port and the sea. However the water was a little murky, and there was only about a mark of usable daylight left.
Good thing she missed the post, though. It was coated with barnacles, nasty little devils that could have sliced her face open. But molluscs were a good sign. Elsor couldn't quite make out the floor, but it looked to be about twenty or even thirty feet deep... could be dangerous. But there might be something down there.

When she surfaced, a call bounced along the waters' surface and made her look to the pier. One of the divers, a woman, was shouting and pointing in her direction - or perhaps behind her.
Sure enough, there was a massive sailing lugger with its' outer hull coated in vicious barnacles. It had just left its' berth and was only a few paces away, bearing down on her all too fast...

[Elsor]

Elsor did a dive that her father had shown her. She raised her hands above her head, pointed her feet and let her body sink down slowly to the bottom of the sea floor. As she looked up, she saw the shadow of the vessel blot out the sun and so the achadhiel headed for an area somewhat further out to sea but in a diagonal reach, past the vessel and more or less out of the way.

She moved in a dolphin-like manner, curving her back and using her feet as imaginary fins to propel her forward and out to sea. Resurfacing slowly with her hands over her head, Elsor peeped above the water and felt the swirl of the boat's wake push her body towards the barnacles and the rear of the boat. She was already gasping for breath, and not such a strong swimmer to begin with, frantically paddled with a simple free stroke to try and get away from the boat, feeling her foot get dangerously close to the back of the vessel and to a rather nasty injury that might stop her from swimming for a while...

[Craghley]

Elsor was frustratingly bouyant in the salty water, and one had to exhale a fair degree to make suitable progress towards the seabed. Little wonder she was so out of breath when she emerged, the swell of the ships' wake doing nothing to help her regain a little mental equilibrium. A little salt water went down her throat and Elsor found it difficult not to inhale without coughing mightily - all the while trying to get away from the impending hull.

Something latched onto her left arm - the woman from the pier was now in the water beside her, and she draped Elsor's limb over her shoulders and pushed through the water. They were now a safe distance from the passing lugger, able to simply tread water. There a sound from the ship, actually - for the sailors were lined up portside, jeering and laughing at the two figures in the water.
The woman next to her relinquished her grip in order that she might free an arm to give the deckhands above an uncivilised gesture. She then faced Elsor.

"Careful there. You okay?"

[Elsor]

Elsor was somewhat alarmed at the human contact, but let herself be dragged off nontheless.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Does that happen often?"
She tread water and went into a coughing fit to get the salty water out of her lungs. It wasn't pleasant to have that disgusting liquid in a place where liquid shouldn't be.

"Hey, thanks. I owe you one for that."
Elsor tried to give a grin, but found that it took more energy than it was worth.
"I'm trying to find some clams, would you know where I can find any?"

[Craghley]

Elsor was somewhat alarmed at the human contact, but let herself be dragged off nontheless.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Does that happen often?"

Elsor didn't have much of a say in what the woman did in her condition; even without the buffeting she'd have been no match for this lady in the water. She was a strong swimmer... whoever she was.
Youngish, that was apparent. twenty-five yahren old perhaps, give or take a few. Her hair was slicked down against her skin by the water, shining a liquid black with dark auburn eyes peering out from behind the glossy curtain. She was also well tanned from what Elsor could see.
Giving one last thrust with her gesture towards the howling sailors, she finally focused back onto Elsor.

"Yup - diving in the harbour is a little dangerous like that. But that's just them being bastards."
She was still helping Elsor stay afloat while the younger girl was busy clearing her throat.

"Hey, thanks. I owe you one for that."
Elsor tried to give a grin, but found that it took more energy than it was worth.
"I'm trying to find some clams, would you know where I can find any?"

"So you are a diver as well? Well, it's just a courtesy we have here. Diving's a dangerous business, especially when you need to go down thirty feet for a catch. So every time someone's in trouble in the water, we drop what we're doing and lend a hand. Helps us all stay alive...
"You looking for pearls or meat? Lots of mussels and oysters and such about, a few still in the harbour. Doesn't do to clear 'em all out, nor to go to surface and lose your scalp against the keel of a ship. We generally go out around the isle, but you can check out some of stuff that grows on the Mole."
She pointed of towards the breakers that bordered the harbour, and frowned.
"Oh, and my name's Julie. Sorry, kind of slipped my mind."

[Elsor]

Elsor smiled and paddled about, but not going too far away from the lady.
"I dive for pearls. I obviously know now that this isn't the best place to dive for them, but that would be granted that there are a lot in the most dangerous places, yai?"

Elsor dipped her head under the water to let it run over her scalp before coming back up and grinning.

"You needn't worry. I couldn't take them all if I wanted to. I'd be too exhausted by the third time that I'd just stop. I'm Elsor, nice to meet you Julie."

Elsor looked around. It seemed relatively calm for an eveningtide, despite the coming about of boats. She was somewhat impatient to start diving, but she had time.

[Craghley]

I dive for pearls. I obviously know now that this isn't the best place to dive for them, but that would be granted that there are a lot in the most dangerous places, yai?"

"Well, yeah!" Julie laughed, a little tinkling chime. "Suicide isn't exactly profitibale. 'S why we stick together. Better living and sharing the wealth than hoarding over in the Locker."

"You needn't worry. I couldn't take them all if I wanted to. I'd be too exhausted by the third time that I'd just stop. I'm Elsor, nice to meet you Julie."

This brought another smile to Julie's face.
"Nice to meet you then."

She turned towards the pier, where her comrades were gathering at the end. One by one they were jumping, diving gracefully into the water and making their way over.

"We were just headed out for one more run, over at the Mole. Care to join us? Best way to show you the ropes."

[Elsor]

Elsor blinked. She was fine to swim by herself... and wasn't entirely sure if her cloth costume was on tight enough...but nodded anyway, her brown hair now almost black from being wet.

"Why not?"

Elsor shrugged and paddled around lazily, the salty water keeping her somewhat bouyant and making it easy to float. She watched the others swim over with a light smile on her face.
So far, things were going well.

[Craghley]

The others were in their midst now, men and women moving steadily through the tranquil water and taking a path which took them clear of any vessels. Julie beckoned Elsor onwards, and set a pace which her new companion would have little difficulty in following.

The West Mole

While the busy port of the Citadel boasted a fine natural harbor, it had long since been improved with a pair of long, stone moles that extended the port like some vast wall into the sea that acted both as breakwaters as well as quays. The westernmost mole was a short construction, but adequate to insure a calm harbor in virtually any weather, with it's low, rocky construction that ended with a short, squat signal tower that most often went unused.

The seaward side of the West Mole was not unused, however. Despite the massive breakers that crashed upon the unmoving wall of stone, a small group of docks and piers stretched into the roiling waters as if defying the very ocean itself. In the later half of any day, over thirty small vessels would be tied up to the piers, while the Morningtide saw it virtually empty. Even if the small boats were all out to sea, one could not mistake the West Mole for the most favored home of the Citadel's numerous and capable fishermen, their boats and trawls always visible plying the waters all around the island and returning here to unload, sort, and sell their daily catch. The remainder of the dockworkers and sailors avoided this small haven for fishermen due to the potent, almost overpowering odor of dieing fish, a smell that seemed to have soaked into the flawless stonework of the mighty mole permanently.

The majority of the fishermen not only worked from the West Mole, but they lived upon it as well. A haphazard collection of rickety shacks lined the top of the breakwater above these piers, reducing the majestic stone construction to little more than a road upon which the fish merchants could sell their wares. The obvious remains of daily activity were littered among the shacks, on the mole, and often enough in the water to either side: empty barrels that once held pitch or salts, rotten netting that no longer served, and piles of empty gourds and bottles, some still adding the potent scent of rum or brandy to the already tainted air.

"Normally we stay away from there. Can get a bit... foul in places, but there's a couple of spots we've had our eye on recently."

Julie was obviously having no difficulty speaking, through it was regularly punctuated by pauses when her head dipped below and she came back up for breath. Elsor was finding the calm waters very easy to move through, and no difficulties were presented along the way.

"Gotta be careful with all this junk around. It's normally why we don't come here, but it's good for the clams. Not so many pearl bearers around, but they have a decent yield - dunno if it's in spite or because of all the stuff in the water."

Elsor was free to tread water, but there was also both the surrounding posts for the fishermens' dwellings a nearby cask bobbing in the water that she could use to help keep buoyed up.

"Right, important that I know afore we start," Julie continued, sitting calmly in the water. "You much experience in pearl diving? I should keep tabs on you anyway, because of all the loose netting and stray junk, but I might also be able to give you a few pointers in general."

There was a far-off splash. Out past the Mole one could a silhouette moving against the blinding reflection on the water, several silhouettes in fact, the shapes of dorsal fins gliding speedily along the main...

... with another splash, the owner of one the fins jumped clear of the water. Dolphins, making use of the last of the days' light, much like themselves.

[Elsor]

Elsor smiled and listened to Julie's advice.
"I know what to look for in a clam that bear pearls, or ones that are likely to bear pearls in the future. I'm not sure if I'll find many here, like you said but there's no harm in looking, yai?"

Elsor was struggling to find words that helped to describe how she could dive. Her translating from Adhiel to English was pretty fluent, save a few words that she used often.
"My Imiel....I mean father...usually waits up on the bank when I dive during the day. When it's dark I feel around because I usually know where I'm going. However...I think I'll need your help here."
Elsor looked around and looked along the shacks on the beachfront to see if there were any men pointing and talking in 'secret.' Seeing as there weren't any, she moved to dive down with a slow descent.

[Craghley]

Julie nodded all along while Elsor spoke. When Elsor was finished, and before she went under, Julie told her what she'd do.

"I'll dive with you. I'll let you scout around at first and warn you if you're about to run into anything - stray netting, old debris, whatever. If you want help with anything, just ask me when we ressurface."

What Elsor saw when she dived down was this:
The shacks of the fishermen sent down posts to anchor onto the seabed or the Mole, largely covered in molluscs, mostly barnacles. The water was a little murky but very calm, the miniscule sediment floating in the water like suspended dust clouds. The harbour was about twenty feet deep here, littered at the bottom with old junk which had been crusted over much like the walls of the Mole and and shack supports. Dimly perceptible shadows from stray trash and refracted light was cast along the floor.
As far as Elsor was able to discern she could head either to the nearby support posts, the face of the Mole, or examine the very seabed (which would certainly be the riskiest).

Julie was sitting calmly in the water besides here, scouting around the surroundings as well.

[Elsor]

Elsor swan slowly, keeping her movements slow and holding her breath. She moved her body parallel to the seabed and waved her arms in front of her as she moved forward, so her hands would touch anything before her head did. She moved towards the posts slowly, trying hard not to disturb the seabed. When she needed to come up for air, she looked up to see if any ships were casting their shadow above her, moved back through the area she had just checked and moved up as slowly as she had descended.

She waited for Julie to resurface before going back down herself. Before long, they had covered a lot of ground and Elsor hadn't found much, only a few rocks and a stray piece of line tangled around it. Her hands then ghosted over a boot..a boot that felt unusually heavy.
Perhaps there was something inside?
She resurfaced before going back down to investigate.

[Craghley]

Julie was still keeping tabs on her. She didn't interfere with anything, just swam leisurely behind Elsor and watched with a kind of passive interest (as far as anything like that was discernable underwater). While they were above water again (after having discovered the boot), she let Elsor know that they had perhaps ten burns of working light.

"But you're doing good. Rising slowly. If you go deeper than that, it's good to clean out your ears, and on your way up, pause about ten feet from the surface for a burn. Never leave it till you're just about out of air to surface."

Back underwater the boot was where it still was originally. It was wedged, lopsided, in the rocks. Sand had drifted by and caught on the footwear, forming a small mound around it. Elsor would have to dislodge it to see whether sand had also found its' way inside the boot, or whether its' wight was caused by something else.

[Elsor]

Elsor nodded at the advice given by Julie.
"Hey, can you help me with this boot I found? It's just down here.."
Elsor dove down under the water and jiggled the boot gently but it didn't seem to be moving. She fiddled with a few of the rocks but still it didn't budge very much.
So much for being a tuirdhiel's daughter.. thought Elsor as she came back up for a gasp of air and dove down again.

Whatever was in this boot was extremely heavy and annoying, the achadhiel was hoping that they could find out whatever was inside the boot soon..

[Craghley]

Julie came up to her and the offending boot. The divers' fingers probed thoughftully around the boot. After a few flickers Julie gripped it firmly by the sides and pushed down. Seemed that there was a little crevice it was stuck in, giving Julie room enough to rotate it slightly while she braced her feet against the rocks. With a massive tug, she yanked it free of the rocks with with an ensuing cloud of sand.
As it cleared enough for Elsor to see once again, Julie had upended the boot and was shaking it around. Possibly a year of trapped sand tumbled out to the ocean floor. Julie shrugged, and dropped the boot back besides its' previous resting place.
The sand had fallen into the crevice, but it was just possible to see the lip of something poking out from the sahdows, perhaps.

[Elsor]

Elsor shuddered, not wanting to know what could be down there. She rose as fast as she could and began to swim to the Harbour where she could search for other things.

"Julie, There aren't any notorious murderers around here, are there?"
Her mind went back to the boot and what could be down there. She shuddered again.
"I mean...it's not usual to find boots and stuff in the middle of the Mole..is it?"

She swam slowly, thinking hard. Perhaps there was more to that boot than she had first thought. She wasn't going back to get it...that would have to wait until there was more than just a litle bit of sun, perhaps in Tradetide..

[Craghley]

"Notorious murderers? Well... not at the moment, no. At least I don't think so..." Elsor's apparent unease caught Julie's attention and she trailed off. Her own concern flooded away when Elsor told her she'd just found a boot.

"Hah! You had me worried there! Nah, you shouldn't find any bodies in the harbour. Too many people around, can't risk them bobbing up. I've only come across two or three here, and I've been diving for about ten years."

Julie scanned the horizon for a flicker, then the quality of the light. She fell in beside Elsor, making her way to the pier.

"Right idea there. We'll pick it up tomorrow. The bunch of us were planning to go hit Carling Point a mark before noon. You're welcome to join us. Say, whereabouts are you staying at?"

[Elsor]

Elsor's feeling of unease was loosened as Julie talked. She listened to the information, taking everything in as much as possible.

"Um..well..I'm thinking of sleeping in my boat..."

Things seemed very simple to her. Sleep in the boat, find some breakfast, walk over to the diving group when the time came and have the time of her life.
Right?

"So, what do you dive for? I know that I go for pearls and sometimes I find some weapons and cargo that the ships dropped on their way into harbour that I can re-sell to others but, I can't remember if you mentioned anything? Or do you just dive for fun?"

[Craghley]

"Um..well..I'm thinking of sleeping in my boat..."

Julie gaped. A swell of seawater rolled into her open mouth and she sputtered for a couple of flickers.

"In -cough- your boa-cough- boat? You looking to get mugged? Don't be so daft - go to the Burpin' Dragon and see if they have any rooms to let. You got money? You don't need much, the board's mighty cheap."

"So, what do you dive for? I know that I go for pearls and sometimes I find some weapons and cargo that the ships dropped on their way into harbour that I can re-sell to others but, I can't remember if you mentioned anything? Or do you just dive for fun?"

They'd reached a handy pier by now and Julie was climbing up the rungs of the ladder. Once clear of the water she flopped down lazily on the boards, propped against a jutting post. Her eyes were on the water and the other divers, keeping tabs on her fellows. Should Elsor follow her up she'd feel the frigid bite of the wind against her wet clothes and skin.

"Mmm, I've always enjoyed it. Diving, that is. Risks are high, and you'd be surprised how much you need to learn to stay alive... but what do I do it for? A living, I guess. I mostly work in the mussel farms, but I also dive for natural molluscs. Sometimes find a crayfish or two as well; they sell pretty nicely. And of course I won't pass up the chance to grab a pearl and you come across all sorts of debris in the harbour. Most of it's junk like that old boot, but people lose coins and rings and the like between the decking of these piers. Shoddy in some places.
"But mostly I dive for food, oysters and mussels and some shellfish. Food is always in high demand. Keep that in mind if the pearl business goes roughly."

The others were almost all gathered on the pier now, some shivering in the breeze. Julie continued.

"Look, the Dragon's on my way home. I can show you there if you want."

[Elsor]

Elsor followed behind Julie, shivering slightly.
"Sure. l..l..lead ahead."
Elsor went over to pick up her possesions from her boat and heaved her sack over her shoulder. It's familiar heaviness comforted her slightly as she went to follow Julie to the Burpin' Dragon.

"How do you catch crayfish in this water?" Elsor mused, half talking to herself.
"Aren't they freshwater creatures?"

She shuffled along the ground deep in thought. Even though Julie confirmed that she didn't think there were many murderers in the area, Elsor still didn't feel right. There was a ghosting of an uncertain feeling about that boot lying at the bottom of the sea..

[Craghley]

OOC: XD damnit, here in Perth we just call them all 'crayfish'... (whoops)
On another note, feel free to enter the Burpin' Dragon thread here.
EDIT: that Burpin Dragon thread is set for the 26th ET, sorry. My mistake. If you rent a room you'll have already been there for a night.

[hr][/hr]

Julie rubbed her arms to generate a little heat while she went back to the divers' cache. A couple of divers had stayed behind and chatted uninterrupted while Julie grabbed a large, mangy cotton square and rubbed herself down dry.

"Fresh water? Huh, I wonder what you call them in that case. Ah well, they're worth good money whatever they are. Freaky little things."

Most of the divers had dwellings on the waterfront and so made their way from the group. Even so, Elsor found herself walking with two other young men and a girl, apparently younger than Julie, all of them human. Their group passed unhindered through the gates, where Elsor saw the smelly fat guard was still showing a keen disinterest in his job. Except now he had an orange.

Julie took a moment asides from chatting with her friends to place her attention back with Elsor.

"Don't like the look of this weather. Might have a rough time of it tomorrow, but work needs doing. I'll get everyone to start early; it'll be bloody cold but we might get some work done before foul weather hits. How 'bout I drop by at daybreak? We'll head over to Carling Point together. We'll be walking by the Dragon in any case."

[Elsor]

Ooc; lol. We call them lobsters or Moreton Bay Bugs...oh well. ^.^
Thanks for the link


Elsor grinned.
"Where I come from, we call them lobsters or Bugs. I don't like to come across them - they like to pinch my feet."

Elsor followed the group as they walked through the gates and giggled at the guard. His comical appearance was simply irresistable.

The achadhiel nodded her head as she registered the information.
"Carling point. Yup."
Elsor looked up at the sky and then to the side. The area seemed fine, if not chilly.