mircontour

Message

Because my fellow tour-goers are interested, I am beginning a tour of a rather different sort from the others - this tour will be of the deep oceans of Vanafanyu with an Abyssal Mircon as your primary tour guide.

The tour will be conducted in bioluminescent Morse code (which will be conveyed here as English, unless it is a Mircon word, and then it will convey it as Abyssal Mircon in Morse code). If you read Quanafi, the same message will be bioluminescently displayed in Quanafi on the tour guide's back.

We will begin on a boat docked at a tiny island that has only a research facility on it. Get there however you see fit. Join at any point, the boat is going to be up at the dive site for the duration.

Posted: Wed 6/9/10, 1:49 pm    Post subject:

I'm afraid that I will not be joining you, but I've enjoyed seeing people have fun with the tours to date.

Posted: Wed 6/9/10, 5:50 pm    Post subject:

Name: Misa Antacar

/mi.sa an.tak.aɹ/

Age: 5 (earth years)

Gender: Male

Species: Nacran Ancaron

Height: 5'3"/1.6m

And another picture that only shows the facial area.

Posted: Wed 6/9/10, 7:08 pm    Post subject:

Posted: Wed 6/9/10, 8:04 pm    Post subject:

Oh, and now I can join a tour on time!

I think that I will, however, need a more impressive conspecimen for this tour, not to mention that the other one is still touring another world, and so his older brother will take this one. He is an Olivine, a sort of human indigenous to the artificial planet Olivia, which are not especially diverse, and so tend to suffer from mild congenital diseases rather often, and this one is leucistic, though this does not actually affect his ability to do anything, except expose himself to the sun, which the thick atmosphere of his homeworld mitigates somewhat, and one can tell that he is not an albino Olivine, as his eyes are grey, though his hair is so light that it is nearly white. In order to be suitable for this trip, I have chosen an especially physically and mentally capable member of his species, in the hope that he will survive it.

----

A message from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Empire of Illyria

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Suite 19, Parliament Building

Ten Sophiaschirche Square

Millaflûry, Ward 1: Sophiaschirche

To whom it may concern,

We have received an enquiry regarding the tour of the Abyssal Micron Seas of Vanafanyu, and a young man by the name of Harald St. Clare has bravely decided to take his holiday on your tour. His documents have been attached, and he is in excellent health. He is requesting that he be allowed to bring his pet, a lion-dog by the name of Jugo, for whom he will provide, and who is of a species that is possessed of great intelligence and loyalty, and so will not be of any danger to anyone taking part on this tour. The two will be shielded by a sorcellic glyph designed to repel water pressure and cold, and to allow them to breathe underwater. The documents for both Harald and Jugo have been attached.

The two will arrive by sorcellic glyph pending the arrival of your response, which may, at your sole discretion, result in Jugo being retained in Clavel.

I hope that this message reaches you in good health,

Anna-Sophia St. Johan, Countess of Castel St. Johansgarde, Minister of Foreign Affairs

----

A Certificate of Diving Ability, Issued by the Imperial Armed Forces of Illyria

This is to certify that Harald Vincent Alois St. Clare, has passed both the Combatant Diving and Speed Swimming Examination of the Imperial Naval Forces, and the Deep Ocean Diving and Swimming Examination of the Imperial Marine Forces, and that he has been certified to project sorcellic glyphs capable of withstanding pressure far exceeding the requisite amount for this activity.

Alexandrina Belmont, Vice-Director, Imperial Naval Forces Examination Board

Eloisa Grunechirche, Chairman, Imperial Marine Forces Examination Board

----

A Physical Examination Report for Harald St. Clare

Name: Harald Vincent Alois St. Clare

Preferred Name: Harald

Age: 27 (Olivine years), 31 (Earth years)

Height: 7'8"

Weight: 643.8 lbs.

Hair: Very light

Eyes: Grey

Distinguishing marks: None

Disorders: Leucism

Harald has shown himself to be in excellent health and, other than the leucism with which he was born, has no existing medical conditions warranting attention, though at such a depth as that at which the tour is to take place, he needs not be concerned for exposure, as he normally would. He has been found to possess extraordinary physical strength, and, for an appropriate comparison, would be capable of overpowering a tiger without assistance, and has been cleared for performing strenuous physical exercise over extended periods of time. He will, however, bring a food supply of his own, as he possesses a fast metabolism, and will need to eat a great deal in order to keep up his energy, though he has never reported collapse, and is not expected to be a liability on this trip.

He is also the tallest living Olivine on record.

Dr. Antonin Sconevalde, Physician

----

A Note from the Ministry of Environmental Protection concerning the lion-dog Jugo

The lion-dog, registered in Clavel, St. Madeleinasgarde Province, has been confirmed to have undergone deep oceanic diving training with the Imperial Lion Dog Forces of the Imperial Navy, and has been trained not to attack any undersea life without direct orders to do so. Although a military animal by breeding and training, he is currently living as the pet of Harald St. Clare of Clavel, and it has been requested that he be allowed to accompany his master on this trip. He has been confirmed by the Ministry of Environmental Protection to be physically able to participate in this activity.

Adalbert Grunberg, Count Veissechirche, Minister of Environmental Protection

----

A Statement of Release of Responsibility

This is to certify that, should any bodily or psychological harm come to one Harald Vincent Alois St. Clare, that no action, civil, military, or otherwise, shall be taken by the Government or Empress of the Empire of Illyria against the Mircon responsible, and neither shall his friends or family take any personal action against them.

Anna-Sophia St. Johan, Countess of Castel St. Johansgarde, Minister of Foreign Affairs

I do hereby affirm the above, and waive all responsibility to the Mircon responsible for me, should I come to any harm,

Harald St. Clare

----

And so, I send another of these creatures off to brave a world they have never before seen.

_________________

"I cannot speak well enough to be unintelligible."

-Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey

I puzzled for weeks for how an Abyssal Mircon could communicate with you guys, the Morse code idea was one I dreamed a few days ago, I did some research on it and decided it could work efficiently - before that the leading plan was binary.

I love both your character ideas! I'm not disallowing any characters actually, but if a character can't meet the requirements I will need to come up with a way that fits in Descubralian tech to have them not die.

I've not heard of Submarine Titans, I made that with Terragen.

The letters are indeed so much fun, so I will reply to them for more fun!

Those poor Olivines, they will be traumatized! (well, maybe not...)

I am not going to kill off your characters, though in all honesty, without handwaving, a dive below 100-140 ft for a human would be exceedingly dangerous and likely deadly, and human lawyers reviewed the waivers and rules...

It's kind of an in-joke about a waiver we had to sign for a dance class that said that it could result in injury or death (it was a generic waiver).

Death by dance, MWAHAHAHA!

To: Misa Antacar, Nacran Ancaron, Descubralian Planet Code Q98-3F-ZLM-6

From: Texʼachiat, Abyssal Tours Interplanetary, Inc., Mircon, Vanafanyu (Terlu Niuvu)

Thank you for your letter, and welcome to the tour! It is good to hear you are a gilled shapeshifter, you will fit right in. Please be practiced to shift to blades that can cut artificial rope, in case a fellow tour-goer gets ensnared in a ghost net. Your number of years seems fewer than your writing skills indicate - is your species of a short lifespan or biologically immortal like the Hadal Mircon, who return to a juvenile state at will?

Attached to this letter is a packet with all the things you will need for the tour, including exact location, and land-based resources in case you are early. If you need aquatic resources, please call A-37-K5J-555-1234, and ask for Nelaak, she can make any arrangements you need. I will see you at -4000m!

To: Màe, AH423-DII-C7, Kaglù, Kagan, Descubralian Planet Code R17-8L-KWM-2

From: Texʼachiat, Abyssal Tours Interplanetary, Inc., Mircon, Vanafanyu (Terlu Niuvu)

Thank you for your letters, and welcome to the tour! I have received further correspondence from two Euphotic Mircon - Eqʼaleak and Meshaak, telling me more about your kind. There will likely be a creature called a lion-dog on the trip, but only if his keeper agrees to not feed him mammalian meat (I was told your kind eat poultry, and would eat fish if it were not toxic).

We are not inclined to mislead anyone, and our injury reporting procedures are strict. We assure you that any incident will be reported to you in full, even if no injury is observed, externally or internally.

Attached to this letter is a packet with all the things you will need for the tour, including exact location, and land-based resources in case you are early. If you need aquatic resources, please call A-37-K5J-555-1234, and ask for Nelaak, she can make any arrangements you need. I will see you at -4000m!

To: Harald Vincent Alois St. Clare, Clavel, St. Madeleinasgarde Province, Olivine, Olivia, Descubralian Planet Code G54-7M-HQA-8

From: Texʼachiat, Abyssal Tours Interplanetary, Inc., Mircon, Vanafanyu (Terlu Niuvu)

Thank you for your letters, and welcome to the tour! Your lion-dog, Joro, is welcome to come, on the condition that he eat no mammal meat (he may eat meat of any non-mammal), as certain registered guests are rather skittish of predators. If this is not possible, he will sadly not be able to come.

I have read up on your condition, and I feel the need to remind you to protect yourself from the sun when on the boat and island and when near the water's surface, because it is very easy to become sunburned around water, and I have been told it has been very sunny as of late.

Attached to this letter is a packet with all the things you will need for the tour, including exact location, and land-based resources in case you are early. Hotels noted have a paw-print symbol next to them if they accept pets as well. I will see you at -4000m!

Action!

Palomu dí lu Mariposu /pa.lo.mu di lu mar_j.pos.u/ is checking the condition of the boat and her equipment when on the dock near her appears a boy with gills and odd feet and otherwise looking like a Descubralian, probably a teen based on height, and wearing a purple top and a short white skirt. Hmm, I remember only one early-registered traveler with gills, this must be the boy, Misa.

"Hello, I am Master Diver Palomu, are you Misa, perhaps? I'm the dive leader for this trip, well at least until you hit 100 feet or so, then it becomes way too dangerous for me and Nelaak will take you to the Disphotic Zone. You can wait out here or in the research center if you want, or as I saw a note about you having gills, we have a pool in the research center or I can call Nelaak and she can get you underwater accommodations, and we would just meet you at about 15 ft. If you want something to eat or drink I can get you a cafeteria pass for the center. Pepe should be inside, actually, if you want to meet him, he's my dive partner. I wouldn't bother Jose though, he's test driving the new escort robot."

...and so it begins!

_________________

Find your Yawurenyi Element!

Mircon romanizations and pronunciations!

Posted: Thu 6/10/10, 1:22 pm    Post subject:

Posted: Thu 6/10/10, 4:46 pm    Post subject:

Well, they seem to have a planet code even for artificial planets of indeterminate location in alternate realities, so one in the small Magellanic Cloud hardly seems implausible by comparison. Oddly enough, as the Illyrian alphabet consists of A B C CZ D E F G GZ H I J L GL M N GN O P R S SC T TH U V Z, they cannot spell out their own planet's code with a standard keyboard.

In Abyssal Mircon, you traumatise the tourist, on Olivia, the tourist traumatises you (well, not really, but the majority of Olivine states -- five of seven, Illyria, Bohemia, Cilecia, Sicilia, and Servia -- do have Soviet-style Ministries of Culture (and are rather glaring victims of theme naming, as are the lion dogs Jugo and Sirocco), though they are, more often than not, focused on moral censorship, rather than political censorship).

----

A Message from Harald St. Clare

Harald Vincent Alois St. Clare, Count Honourary of the Empire of Illyria*

17 Grunpont Street

Clavel, Ward 5: Greigegarde

I will be arriving shortly by sorcellic glyph, and you may expect Jugo, who will be fed with fish, to be joining this trip. He and I will not require separate accommodations, and we are both looking forward to this trip.

I hope that this message reaches you in good health,

Harald St. Clare

*As the oldest son of a Margrave, Harald bears the courtesy title of Count, but is not the Count of any extant place, as are some of the authors of other letters. As he is on holiday, he will not actually mention this to anyone.

----

And so it begins...

An odd white circle, soon filled with oddly-ornate writing and a few lines that seem to be for nothing more than aesthetic appeal, draws itself, and, a few seconds later, two figures emerge from it, one, a tall, broad, muscular human figure with very long hair, and unmistakably male, and the other a large, russet creature rather reminiscent of a great cat, but with a few distinctive canine features, and a mane that is longer than, but not quite as pronounced, a lion's. The former is clad in a rather simple soldier's blouse with a standing collar and long trousers, and wears a hat reminiscent of a kepi, and both his hair and complexion are exceedingly pale, and he wears a white scarf wrapped around his neck and the lower part of his face, and both seem quite comfortable, despite the heat, and have a literal aura of cold about them. The great cat (or dog, it might be disputed) carries a brown satchel made of some sort of leather-esque substance, but which is clearly not leather, tends to stick very closely to its companion, and is large enough even for one of his master's stature to ride, being larger than a horse, and weighing approximately 1,650 pounds.

The two look about more eagerly than one might expect such creatures to, and the humanoid takes several documents from the satchel and leafs through them, to make certain that all is in order when they are presented. Oddly enough, rather than paper, the documents appear to be printed on vellum, and are handwritten in several places, in addition to a few having been sealed with wax.

The Olivines, though fairly technologically advanced, print formal documents on vellum or other fine sorts of parchment, and often write letters on it as well, though more day-to-day sorts of writing use parchment produced from cheaper skins. Harald has probably never before seen paper, as the only things commonly made from wood in his homeland are parts of building, flooring, and furnishings.

_________________

"I cannot speak well enough to be unintelligible."

-Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey

They don't know where it is, they just assigned it a number anyhow. Later the number would be referenced to planet name and location.

Posted: Thu 6/10/10, 5:53 pm    Post subject:

Note -- when Harald says his name, it is pronounced [ça'ʀald], and Jugo [ʑu'ʝo], in the case that would cause a hearer to reinterpret his name. His surname is pronounced /sant klɑ:/, though many Olivine words ending in -re are ambiguous in pronunciation, and a modern reader would probably say it /kla'ʀa/, if it were to be read phonetically.

No sooner had Harald and Jugo arrived, they were greeted by a person wearing rather odd clothing, who calls himself Pallomuch, and who has already mangled their names quite badly, making him nearly laugh when he heard his surname pronounced so strangely. After stifling his laughter, as it would not be proper to laugh at someone for misreading a foreign name, answers 'yes, madam, I am Harald St. Clare, and this is my lion-dog, Jugo,' bowing politely, before he is given a rather odd-looking necklace with a badge of some sort attached. He then hears her mangle his name again, this time into an odd sort of communication device, which he concludes to be a sort of telephone that can be carried, though he rather wonders why anyone would wish to carry a telephone about, as one could be bothered with a call at any time.

Another strange person, this one calling himself Peppey /pɛpɛɪ/, then took him rather violently, before compelling him to follow by pulling on his arm, which he thought rather rude to refuse, telling him about some place called the "Center" /sɛntɛɐ/, which he thinks sounds like a rather amusing place to go. He is even told that a cushion has been set up for "Jollo", whom he assumes to be Jugo, and so asks 'will Jugo not be permitted to swim? I dare say he would enjoy it quite a bit, and I can quickly dry him, so as not to damage the cushion.' Jugo follows pleasantly behind Harald all the way, sniffing at unfamiliar smells, and intriguedly pondering the strange sights which surround him, and learning carefully the scent of his master's conductors, as he has not signed any sort of waiver....

Although he feels a bit hurried, Harald is rather pleased to be on holiday with his lion-dog, who, unlike most Earth pets, possesses intelligence to rival that of a human, but who, because he is a lion-dog and, therefore, not human, is incapable of speech. He was especially worried for Jugo, as his brother's pet, Sirocco, was not allowed on a tour of another planet, as he would have caused widespread panic, and wonders if there will not be any "Caghluchen" on this one.

_________________

"I cannot speak well enough to be unintelligible."

-Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey

Joro was a typo (IC a slip of the tongue), but we'll go with it. Jugo would be /hu.go/, she's going by spelling, which is why St. was read "san" as in San Fransisco

"Oh, Jiarald /h_ja.rald/ San Cla /san kla/! I am sorry I mangled your name, I had no pronunciation notes. Is Siuyo /Su.ʝo/ how you pronounce his name?" she asked, pointing to Jugo.

"Siuyo? I thought his name was Joro, sorry! Of course Siuyo can swim in the pool! Here's the Center, do you want to go to the pool or the cafeteria or the lounge or...?"

Conductors?

_________________

Find your Yawurenyi Element!

Mircon romanizations and pronunciations!

Last edited by Shinali Sishi on Thu 6/10/10, 11:02 pm; edited 1 time in total

Posted: Thu 6/10/10, 6:42 pm    Post subject:

Kagluen, maybe?

And how was Misa pronounced?

And Ancaron has no Q. How are they supposed to write that code?

Posted: Thu 6/10/10, 8:11 pm    Post subject:

Illyrian orthography does not use the letters "k, w, x", and so he would spell "Kaglu" as "Caglu(ch)", with the "ch" (pronounced [ʝ]) added as it is odd for him to see words that end in /u/, though not technically unheard of, but such words tend to be monosyllabic.

'Is that alright, Jugo?' asks Albrecht, looking at the lion-dog, when he hears his name better pronounced, a look which is followed by something which resembles a nod of the head, after which Harald continues, 'that will be fine, though the first consonant is generally voiced.'

----

'We ate a little while before we left,' answers Harald, upon being asked whether he would like to go to the pool or to the cafeteria first, and, looking for a moment at the lion-dog, 'and I believe that Jugo has been quite eager to swim since we arrived.'

With this, the lion-dog begins to look quite excited.

----

Conductors, in this sense, would mean those who are conducting, or leading him, to the various facilities, whom he will maul if any harm comes to Harald. This is largely said in jest, much like the release form.

_________________

"I cannot speak well enough to be unintelligible."

-Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey

And how was Misa pronounced? -- /mi.sa/... for now.

And Ancaron has no Q. How are they supposed to write that code?

Posted: Fri 6/11/10, 9:55 am    Post subject:

Wow, I'm late again! *more cookies and puppies, while thinking of excuse for being late*

Swimming is hard work. Especially when you've been dropped from a height into cold water. I suppose I can't complain, though - they did tell me that I wouldn't be near an area of land big enough for the shuttle. And anyway, my body isn't very suited to jumping around on land any more. I don't need to activate the bubble yet, my modified body is doing a good job at keeping out the cold and wet after the initial shock.

I roll over in the water, and watch the shuttle fly back out of the atmosphere to the waiting starship. There goes my last look at home. I turn to the island, and start swimming, enjoying the feeling of my strong tail swooshing cleanly through the water. As I arrive I call out to the alien on the boat: "Hello! I'm Màe, I'm here for the tour of the seamount. Am I late?"

Great excuse. :3 Let's go!

It's a good thing Palomu has checked the equipment several times before...

You aren't late - they are early.

The part of Classical Quanafi today will be played by Modern Quanafi. The part of Modern Quanafi will be played by itself.

Water feels cold but you don't need the bubble, and is cold enough to trigger Mammalian Diving Reflex.]

Once you are all in the Research Center, you will be briefed on the plans by the exubrant Pepe to stall for time so the equipment can be checked out. Then you can have a light snack in the cafeteria if you want.

Current conditions on island: Temperature 30C/87F, Elevation +3m/10 ft, Pressure 1 atm, wind WSW 3.1kn/5.74kph/3.56mph. Partly cloudy. Water temperature 18C/65F

Palomu was checking the equipment when the sound like of a large plane overhead caught her notice. She watched the shuttle fly by and drop off what seemed to be an large otter with a resounding splash. She pressed a button on her phone and a voice came over it in Classical Quanafi, "Kekimotsu sen naa! Nelaak li."

Palomu replied in Modern Quanafi, "Keki naa, Nelaak, Kaglu-nafi gi tsha eku tsimri. Tsha ya li."

Nelaak replied, "Tsha ya? Basilan ri? Rinmon ya li?"

"Basilan ri."

"Eku gi."

At about that point Mae reached close enough to the boat to call out, "Hello! I'm Màe, I'm here for the tour of the seamount. Am I late?" and before Palomu could answer, there was a soft splash behind Mae and Nelaak said in very accented English, "Hello, I am Nelaak. I am your escort to the Disphotic Zone. You are not late, though the others were early. Can you go Terrestrial? Palomu has to check out the equipment so she can dive safely, and I can take you into the Center if you'd like. Nelaak then pulled herself up onto the boat with ease, revealing herself to be about 7 ft tall, heavyset, covered in tiny scales in a silvery blue on her front and a dark blue on her back, which changed to silvery blue as she came out of the water. She was stark naked, and Palomu turned away as she handed her a towel. "Me ri, naa! Center ya me gechi!"

"Psh! Tsha ya me fupel li! Gechi rele!"

"Pernafi hom iiya!"

"Pernafi hom pernafi hom... psh!" said Nelaak putting on the towel annoyedly. "So, Mae, let's go to the Center and meet the others!" she said, reaching out a hand to help Mae out of the water.

"Here's your badge," said Palomu, handing Mae the badge on a lanyard. "It gets you into rooms at the center and gets you food at the cafeteria."

"Lucky! I didn't get one!"

"Nelaak, you don't need one, Rose opens the door for you even when we tell her not to!"

"Well that's because she knows who to obey!"

Quanafi is used between species, though most Mircon learned it s long ago they know Classical Quanafi. Note that they mangle some words: tsha /t-Sa/ is not cha /tSa/ or tsia /tsi.a/

Kekimotsu sen naa! Nelaak li /kE.ki.mo.tsu sen na: ne.la.ak li/ Hello, I'm Nelaak.

"Keki naa, Nelaak, Kaglu-nafi gi tsha eku tsimri. Tsha ya li."

/kE.ki na: ne.la.ak ka.glu na.fi gi t-Sa E.ku tsim.ri t-Sa ja li/

Hi, Nelaak, the Kaflu arrived (came today), I think. [He's] in the ocean.

"Tsha ya? Basilan ri? Rinmon ya li?"

/t-Sa ja ba.si.lan ri rin.mon ja li/

In/on the ocean? Swimming? On a boat?

"Basilan ri." /ba.si.lan ri/ Swimming

"Eku gi." /E.ku gi/ I'm coming (I come)

"Me ri, naa! Center ya me gechi!"

/me ri na: sEnt.Er ja me gEtSi/

Put on some clothes (wrap do) please! You need clothes in the Center!

"Psh! Tsha ya me fupel li! Anila gechi rele!"

/t-Sa ja me fu.pel li a.ni.la gE.tSi rE.le/

Pshaw! In the ocean clothes are stupid! I don't need them!

"Pernafi hom iiya (ri)!"

/pEr.na.fi hom i:ja (ri)/

The human men will be mortified! (iiya is what Quanafi adolescents say to their parents when they are embarrassed by them, and has come to be a slang word for "really embarrassed" - hom comes from hombri /hombr_j/)

"Pernafi hom pernafi hom... psh!"

Human men, human men... pshaw! (she's just being annoying here)

btw, Nelaak says Center as /sen.ter/ and other such butcherings of the /iN.liS len.ku.atS/

Posted: Fri 6/11/10, 12:02 pm    Post subject:

Posted: Fri 6/11/10, 1:24 pm    Post subject:

'Have you never met a lion-dog before?' asks Harald, after being asked if Jugo is a "smart" one, 'he can understand you, and, of course, would like for his name to be pronounced correctly.

Harald and Jugo both bow as they are introduced to a woman named Rohs /ʀɐuz/, who extends her arm, which Harald takes, as was before done to him, and shakes it as gently as he can, though his hand is a bit larger than one might expect, even for one of his stature. Jugo then places his entire mouth around her hand, a gesture at which Harald laughs, especially when he hears her whisper that the lion-dog should not tell him that he has just been given a treat, to which he answers 'I can hear better than some of the people on this tour, though I can smell the fowl that you have fed him,' and laughs as the lion-dog, with her hand still fully in his mouth, scoops the turkey off of it and swallowing it whole, continuing, 'he will not eat your hand, of course,' before Jugo spits it (the hand) out.

'I will remember that,' answers Harald, when he is told that one of his tour companions, someone named Miesse (Pron. [mi:'sa]) is a shapeshifter, 'though we do expect to see strange sights on this tour, or else Jugo and I would not have come,' and, offering a polite bow and thanks when he is told that the water has been dechlorinated, waves his badge as he is instructed, and enters the pool area. Inside, he notices a webbed-footed creature swimming, and assumes it to be Miesse, whom he has presumed, from the name, to be female (names ending in -e/-a in his native language are nearly always feminine, and both endings are pronounced /a/), though, for his swimming attire, Harald believes him to be male. After looking uncertainly about for a changing area, Harald finds himself rather uncertain as to where he should go, and so, placing Jugo in front of him, removes his scarf, kepi, blouse, boots, trousers, and shirt (which is a beige colour, though was not visible for the blouse over it, and is wearing a pair of loose-fitting white shorts and a long, loose white short-sleeved shirt, and, placing his things in Jugo's bag, he removes it and places it politely in the corner.

Harald touches the ground, upon which appears another odd symbol, this one blue, and with different writing in the same script, and different lines, not quite so ornate as those forming the transport glyph, and he and the lion-dog appear to be affected by it somehow for an instant, after which the two dive in quite quickly, displacing a great amount of water due to their combined weight exceeding 2,000 lbs., and appear quite at home. As a result of the glyph (which Harald has not erased, in the case that someone else needs it, though he will get rid of it before he leaves), he will not need to surface for air, and will be unaffected by the water's temperature and pressure for a short time, and so will most likely not until he is finished swimming. Despite being smaller and, ostensibly, not as physically powerful as the lion-dog, Harald is able to keep pace excellently with Jugo, and even to surpass him at times, though his endurance would, eventually, prove the lesser of the two.

_________________

"I cannot speak well enough to be unintelligible."

-Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey

Last edited by Christoph Schrader on Sun 6/13/10, 9:53 am; edited 1 time in total

The building is pretty close to the dock - maybe 20-30 ft or 6-9 m. The island is really only big enough for the Center, the dock, and a half-sized beach volleyball court around back.

They can dive deeper than 100 ft/30 m, but in a high-risk situation (like rescuing someone) it is too dangerous.

Misa Retcon: Pepe has been leading Misa through a dive certification test in the pool. I assume he knows his stuff, having gills and whatnot, but in absence of the paper he needs the test. Feel free to embellish as you see fit. Topics.

Harald

"Oh, sorry. I have never met a lion-dog before."

Rose laughed at Zhuyo taking her whole hand in his mouth to get at the treat. "My pet cat does the same thing, though she cannot swallow my hand whole. It was less that you couldn't hear me, but more that we were pretending to share a secret, right Zhuyo?"

Mae

"If I didn't work these tours I'd probably never come out of the water myself."

"I do not know their species, but I watched as they arrived. One looks like this," she said, turning into a taller and fatter version of Misa, "but Misa is smaller than me. I hear he is a shapeshifter. The other looks like this," she said turning into a pretty good semblance of Harald (if you saw him at a moderate distance and were not sure what was clothes and what was body, that is). "With him is a creature that looks like this" she said, turning into a small lion-dog form. "But he's bigger. He eats fish."

All

She led Mae inside and waved to Rose who buzzed them into the pool area. Men working in the center stared, not at Mae but at the fact that Nelaak was only wearing a towel. When they entered the pool area she introduced people around, "Everyone, this is Mae /ma.e/. Mae, this is Sharald /Sa.ralt/ and with him is Shuio /Su.i.o/ and this is Misa /mi.sa/. You may want to have them correct their names, I am bad at names."

"Pepe will explain the dive to 30m/100 ft, and then as I will be your guide to 200m/656ft I'll explain most of the rest."

Pepe came up, raised his eyebrows at Nelaak's towelly attire and began his spiel. "Hello, I'm Pepe, I'm Palomu's dive partner. I believe all of you have met Palomu. She is going with you to 30 m down because she needs to verify all your equipment you brought is working successfully, and with scuba gear she and I can help you if your equipment fails We will not be descending right over the seamount because the top of it is a protected area, so we have selected a good dive site about 8 km northwest of this island, and just outside the protected zone. We have made repeated dives here and it has shown itself free of sharks, ghost nets, and pirates. The water turbidity is low there, enabling Nelaak to take you deeper. Palomu is checking out the equipment as we speak. Jose is in the command room, he will be sending a ROV down with you to ensure your safety in water to deep for any manned vehicle we have, well aside from the DSV, but those are expensive. Below the Photic Zone, please communicate issues or concerns with your guide or with Jose via the ROV's camera, you can use morse code with any manner of light you brought. Deeper than 30 m it becomes too dangerous for us and we cannot assist in any rescue of you and you will have to rely on the Mircon and each other. Do you have any questions before we continue?"

He then proceeded to lead a brief course in the swimming pool in diver rescue, with Nelaak now wearing a purple swimsuit brought in by Rose, playing the part of the diver in need of rescue, and very much hamming it up. Each person, including Jugo, was given a chance to try to "rescue" her in several situations. After the training session, he presents them each with a Rescue Diver Certificate and puts one copy in their file.

Nelaak then explains the rest of the tour setup:

"I will take you from 30 m to 200 m, and I am a fully certified rescue diver and I have advanced marine medical training. I will point out a few sites along the way, to make the descent more enjoyable. We will be making dive stops both on descent and ascent, so feel free to use these to take notes or if light and technology are sufficient, pictures. Below 200 m Qalaet, a Disphotic Mircon, which is somewhat a misnomer, will be leading you to the mid-Bathyalpelagic zone, or about 1200m-1500m. From there you will meet Tex'achiat, an Abyssal Mircon, who will take you on the actual tour. Any questions?"

_________________

Find your Yawurenyi Element!

Mircon romanizations and pronunciations!

Last edited by Shinali Sishi on Sat 6/12/10, 9:25 pm; edited 1 time in total

Posted: Fri 6/11/10, 2:54 pm    Post subject:

Harald and Jugo surface to meet the new arrival, Machieg (Pron. /maʝi:ʑ/, who appears to be a rather large, odd-sort of otter which vaguely matches the description that his brother has sent him of a Caghluch. The former, having changed his clothing, looking nearly nothing like he was shown to be, for his clothing is white, his shirt has grown more transparent at being submerged (his shorts, are, however, too thick for that to happen to them), and he looks more like a ghost than anything else at the moment, save for that he is breathing heavily, while Jugo merely looks like a drenched, russet lion-dog, and is less-easily mistaken. There is something decidedly odd, he thinks, about the otter, as though it were once something else, but it seems to be about the size of a rather short man, and is much larger than any otter should be, and he wonders if it has not somehow been sorcellically (in essence, magically) altered.

'Good day to you, Machieg, was it?' says Harald, heaving himself out of the pool and bowing politely, 'I hope that your flight, or however you have gotten yourself here, was pleasant. I am Harald St. Clare, and my brother, Albrecht, has recently taken a tour of your world, and found it delightful,' and, realising his mistake, pauses for a moment before proceeding, 'pardon my bowing...err...inclining my head -- where I live, that is a polite gesture, but I have heard that you might find it hostile, and I hope that you can pardon it,' and, after he says this, Jugo jumps out after him, and begins sniffing at Macheig, toward whom he seems to have taken an immediate liking.

_________________

"I cannot speak well enough to be unintelligible."

-Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey

Posted: Fri 6/11/10, 4:25 pm    Post subject:

I have no idea how a dive certification test would go, much less of how to modify one for a species with gills... So it'll just have been going on in the background.

Harald /ha.ɹa.lᵊd/ soon arrives and jumps in alongside Juzho /ʤ.uʒo/ making a big wave. Once the dive certification test was done, Mae /mae/ arrived. Misa surfaced, and everyone was introduced... with some name mangling involved... then a crash course in diver rescue followed.

""It is a pleasure to meet you, Harald St. Clara /ha.ɹa.lᵊd sa.nᵊt kᵊ.la/, Juzho, and Mae, I am Misa." Misa bowed to both Harald and Jugo, and then made some sort of odd spasm as if he started to bow then remembered not to, instead ending up looking a bit silly. He is still only wearing his swimsuit, though his hair has dried itself quite quickly by itself.

_________________

Posted: Fri 6/11/10, 5:04 pm    Post subject:

I laugh delightedly as Nelaag changes shape to show me the others. The last one is rather fearsome-looking, but I am reassured by her statement that he eats fish.

At the Sender pool-side, Haraud /ha.raut/, a tall wet male, nods his head when he greets me, which surprises me, but following his explanation of the gesture, I say: "Don't worry about it, Haraud. There are f-..."

I'm cut off by the huge quadruped sniffing at me in earnest. "Is he sniffing in a friendly way, or in a hungry way?" I ask, only half-joking, and trying not to make any sudden movements.

Misa /mi.sa/ (you can't really mangle that name much), the other alien, almost nods at me - or bau /pau/, as they call it - but remembers not to, and I laugh, saying: "I don't mind if you bau; if it isn't meant to express aggression then I won't be offended."

Rescuing Nelaag was highly entertaining, even though it was a very serious lesson. Afterwards, as she finishes outlining the tour, I ask eagerly: "When do we set off?"

Posted: Fri 6/11/10, 5:38 pm    Post subject:

'Jugo is not going to eat you,' answers Harald, stifling his laughter at the thought of his lion-dog eating the giant otter Caghluch, upon whom the enormous creature pounces affectionately, before beginning to lick his face, 'though I think he likes you quite a bit, even if he is dripping upon you.' After he says this, Harald looks a great deal like he wishes to laugh, but is not doing so as he fears it would be impolite, and wonders if he should not pull Jugo off of Machieg. His hair, which goes down to his knees (it is not customary for Illyrians in general to cut their hair), he dries with an odd flick of his hand, after which his clothing becomes quite suddenly dry as well, and then Harald releases a rather large amount of water from his hand back into the pool.

After amusedly watching the reaction of the Caghluch, Harald decides it might be best to stop Jugo, and so grabs the lion-dog with immense force and slings him rather effortlessly over his shoulders, during which transition the russet creature becomes instantly dry, but leaves behind a very sizable puddle.

----

During the rescue training, Neilag /nɛɪlaʝ/ finds herself carried out by the lion-dog several times, and, even more surprisingly, sorcellically surrounded by a bubble, transported, healed, and even briefly levitated by Harald, who only once actually goes into the water after her. Although he would rather not admit it, Harald found rescuing Neilag to be rather fun, especially as he created a bubble-projecting glyph off the top of his head, for he will have something interesting to tell his sister, who is something of a sorcellic enthusiast, about the trip, in addition to the strange sights he shall see, and it might even make her a bit jealous, as she has never created a glyph of her own before.

_________________

"I cannot speak well enough to be unintelligible."

-Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey

Posted: Fri 6/11/10, 5:48 pm    Post subject:

"Suyo? What a funn-..."

For the second time in as many minutes the creature cuts off my words, this time with a pounce and wet licks all over my face. I burst out laughing, and fall to the floor in a helpless puddle of giggles, which only encourages more licking.

Suyo's red-brown weight suddenly disappears from my vision, Haraud has swung him off me and dried him. "He is marvellous," I say, out of breath from laughter, as I roll back upright.

Message

Posted: Fri 6/11/10, 6:28 pm    Post subject:

'Well, I am glad that you like him,' answers Harald, upon learning that the Caghluch was not alarmed by his lion-dog, 'and to think that your people were afraid of his little brother Sirocco. But first, let me make sure that you were not injured by the weight,' after which he draws another of his odd symbols, this one appearing instantly, after which Machieg feels himself surrounded with a sort of soothing warmth, an effect which, while pleasant, is highly transient, though he does notice that he has been standing on one of Harald's sorcellic glyphs through the whole time.

'If you were bruised, you are no longer,' says Harald, smiling, and looking entirely silly with the enormous lion-dog, which weighs nearly three times what he does, thrown carelessly over his shoulders (picture a very large man carrying a horse, and you will see it), before Jugo leaps off him and Harald finds himself carried by the lion-dog, 'would you care to ride around on him a bit? It is quite thrilling to dash across water on a lion-dog, I dare say.'

_________________

"I cannot speak well enough to be unintelligible."

-Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey

Posted: Fri 6/11/10, 7:26 pm    Post subject:

During the rescue training, Misa at one point shoots what appears to be a rope out of his body, which attaches itself to something solid along the edge of the pool after grabbing a hold of Nelaac /ne.la.ak/ and then basically reeling the both of them over to the shore, before absorbing the rope back into himself once they are on the shore. Another time, Misa stays on the shore and grows a tentacle-like appendage and repeats the reeling-in maneuver. Other methods include another levitation, a jump right out of the water onto dry ground, and a transformation by Misa into a large spider-like form tall enough to lift Nelaac completely out of the water, aside from a more 'normal' rescue.

Juzho seems to like Mae, Misa though as the lion-dog first sniffed, then licked, then jumped on, Mae. Harald then picks Juzho up surprisingly quickly, has his strength been upgraded or something?

_________________

Tacartacartacar.

Land surrounds no islands.

Posted: Fri 6/11/10, 8:09 pm    Post subject:

Harald places Jugo upon the ground, at which time, he begins sniffing at Miesse, who seems to have been staring at him since he whisked the lion-dog off the floor, at which time he says, 'Jugo seems to like you as well -- I hope that you do not mind him.'

----

Sometime later, a large amount of raw fish, and some poultry as well, are transported in on a sorcellic glyph, which Jugo eats rather more politely than one might expect, though he does not look as though he wishes to share.

_________________

"I cannot speak well enough to be unintelligible."

-Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey

Random OOC post

Nelaak...for now:

Now I sleep

_________________

Find your Yawurenyi Element!

Mircon romanizations and pronunciations!

Posted: Sat 6/12/10, 3:23 pm    Post subject:

"No, I don't mind," Misa says after Juzho begins to sniff him.

"Is it long until the boat is ready?"

_________________

Tacartacartacar.

Land surrounds no islands.

Sorry for the reply delay, I got unexpectedly busy.

Glad you enjoyed the rescue training and getting to know each other.

I operate on the "I tell you where you are led - if and how you follow is up to you" philosophy of PbP RP.

The others seemed to be having grand fun as Palomu returned, wearing a wetsuit. "Hello again, everyone! The boat and equipment are ready and we are set to head out! Gather your belongings you are taking with you, anything else Rose can put in a locker for you. Pepe, you should suit up, Rose told Jose we are set, and Nelaak, uhh, do whatever it is you are supposed to be doing."

Pepe went to the far side of the pool where there was a door half-hidden behind a rack of gear. Nelaak meanwhile went to the cafeteria and came back with a styrofoam cup filled with a blue slushie. She slurped it noisily, while waiting for Pepe to return. A moment later he came out in a full wetsuit matchng Palomu's. Nelaak quickly finished her drink and tossed the cup in a bright blue bin labeled "Espumu dí Poliestireni" and above all the bins: "Nosí Reciclímos: Protegeáchíule lí Mar!" and below that "Espudipoli" and "Eku Resikil-ri: Tsha Desari!" and on a post-it: "Styrofoam" "We Recycle: Protect the Sea!"

Palomu then led them out to the dock, waving to Rose as they passed. She helped them into the boat and once they were all on board, a random guy released the mooring, tossing Palomu the rope. Pepe started up the engine and steered the boat away from the dock, into the open ocean to the NW. Soon they arrived at the dive site.

"Does everyone have their dive 'equipment' ready?" asked Palomu, checking the straps on Pepe's scuba tanks, and then having him check hers. "If you want to panic and not join us, now's your chance. People with scuba gear, please dive backwards, everyone else - jump far enough out that you don't hit your head on the boat, or ease yourself in from the scuba diving ledge."

Nelaak, behind everyone, had changed out of the swimsuit and now was wearing some convenient kelp to prevent scolding from Palomu (or from Rose for messing up her swimsuit).

"Are we ready to dive?" asked Pepe as Nelaak was already diving off the edge of the boat into to the water.

"Come on in, the water is wonderful!" said Nelaak.

Current conditions on boat: Temperature 31C/88F, Elevation +3m/10 ft, Pressure 1 atm, wind W 5.2kn/9.6kph/6mph. Sunny. Water temperature: 20C/68F.

_________________

Find your Yawurenyi Element!

Mircon romanizations and pronunciations!

Posted: Sun 6/13/10, 9:34 am    Post subject:

Once they had reached the dive site, Palomu instructed them on how to get in the water. Misa jumped up backwards over the edge of the boat, making the boat rock from the force of the jump, and did a slow 540 degree rotation as he seemed to hang in midair, so when he finally did hit the water he went in hands-first. A couple seconds later he popped back up, still moving fast enough to come halfway out of the water before coming to a relative halt with just his head above the surface.

_________________

Tacartacartacar.

Land surrounds no islands.

Posted: Sun 6/13/10, 9:56 am    Post subject:

Upon hearing that it was time to proceed, Harald clandestinely changes back into the dark red military uniform he was wearing, again wrapping a scarf around his face, to protect himself from the heat, and giving his spectacles a quick polish as he hurries outside, with Jugo, his bag again attached, following closely behind. When the dive site is finally reached, Harald and Jugo watch amusedly as Miesse leaps, or rather frolics through the air, into the water and dashes about with incredible speed, at which time Jugo strongly resists the urge to jump in after him. 'Are you ready, Jugo?' asks Harald, as the lion-dog eyes the water, before whispering something that sounds a bit like a German trying to speak old-fashioned English with a French accent, with an odd bit of something else thrown in, after which another large, blue glyph expands, this one darker in colour.

The Olivine and the lion-dog step into it, and at once Harald's scarf, hat, blouse, shirt, and boots seem to dissolve off him, leaving him wearing the baggy white shirt in which he swam, and the trousers he was originally wearing. Jugo's bag appears to seal itself, and odd, blue-grey marks appear on Harald's pale skin, and his veins appear to shift to an oddly-visible blue colour, while the lion-dog undergoes no visible change, but is clearly affected as well. 'This should last us the entire trip,' Harald tells the lion-dog, 'but remember to let me know if it seems to be wearing off -- the effect is not permanent, though it should last a good while if not dispelled.' Jugo nods pleasantly before dashing under Harald and carrying him into the water, under which they can both breathe, as they could in the pool, and, although they take no apparatus, will be immune to the effects of cold and pressure.

The two make an immense splash as they enter the water, after which Harald descends to hide himself from the sun, and Jugo playfully begins to chase Miesse as they wait for the others to jump in.

_________________

"I cannot speak well enough to be unintelligible."

-Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey

Palomu sat backwards on the ledge in gull scuba gear and leaned backwards over the side, flipping into the water.

In the water, Nelaak had grown tired of waiting for Pepe and Mae to jump in so she splashed them with water. "Come on, hurry up!"

She's the equivalent of a 13-15 yr old.

_________________

Find your Yawurenyi Element!

Mircon romanizations and pronunciations!

Posted: Tue 6/15/10, 4:57 pm    Post subject:

Misa begins making odd maneuvers in the water, trying to see just how agile Juzho is, making several tight spirals followed by shooting of randomly in a straight path, making sudden 90 degree turns, or simply pausing before almost reversing course. At one point, he breaks the surface of the water and then dives back under, splashing the people still on the boat.

_________________

Tacartacartacar.

Land surrounds no islands.

Posted: Tue 6/15/10, 5:10 pm    Post subject:

For his size, Jugo proves himself a surprisingly swift swimmer, and nearly catches Miesse a few times, though is continually eluded by the webbed-footed boy's tricks and turns, and so begins to look rather doleful when it appears as though he will never catch him.

The lion-dog laughs when he is led to leap out of the water, and the several people on the boat are splashed further with his re-entry, though now he is, himself, looking like a drenched russet mass.

_________________

"I cannot speak well enough to be unintelligible."

-Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey

Nelaak joins in the tricks, following closely behind Jugo, and doing everything Misa did with added flair to show off. She then splashed Misa and darted around, under, and over the boat, deliberately swimming full tilt straight for Jugo and then veering at the last moment to avoid a collision, reappearing behind the boat.

She then let out a high pitched sound, and an adolescent dolphin swam up to the boat, splashed them with his tail, and joined in the tricks. Nelaak took a quite convincing dolphin form and matched him jump for jump.

Then, an adult dolphin swam over to the group calmly and nuzzled Palomu who grabbed onto a fin and swam along, figuring the play might acclimate them all to the water before they dove.

Waiting for a PM reply to find out from Astraios if we are to assume Mae got out of the boat so we can start diving, or assume he hasn't and wait.

Until then, I give you: dolphins!

_________________

Find your Yawurenyi Element!

Mircon romanizations and pronunciations!

Posted: Tue 6/15/10, 5:43 pm    Post subject:

Oh, well, playing around with conpeople is not a bad way to wait.

Too amused not to join in, Harald leaps through the water after Jugo, and proves himself surprisingly quick, and, when Nellach disappears, Harald does as well, and appears just far away enough from Miesse to avoid a collision, laughing at the startled aquatic boy, as he darts after him.

_________________

"I cannot speak well enough to be unintelligible."

-Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey

Posted: Tue 6/15/10, 5:56 pm    Post subject:

At Harald's sudden appearance, Misa shoots straight upwards at speed, moving fast enough to completely clear the surface of the water. Misa suddenly grows a pair of large, black, and somewhat creepy-looking, wings, which he uses to fly over the boat, dripping water as he went. Once he has maneuvered back over open water, he quickly changes form into another, somewhat smaller, dolphin and makes quite a large splash as he re-enters the water.

The wings were massive enough that Misa's torso was basically hollow after forming them, though he didn't appear to change size aside from the wings.

_________________

Tacartacartacar.

Land surrounds no islands.