[b]Jackdaw![/b] You once knew a professor who had a small and vicious Lorenz Beetle running around her office at shin height. She was the only person that hateful little thing didn’t resent and try to hamstring, and she always played off the gnawed boots and stockings as nothing to get worked up over. One fateful day, a student who had had quite enough of its wicked pincers lashed out and kicked it into a bookshelf. The professor’s response quickly became the subject of hushed campus lessons, as regarded the utter hubris and folly of kicking the damned beetle. The Flood was tranquil enough. It’s in her nature. (And her name! It must be a vast and wonderful secret. Perhaps, in her eternal loving embrace, there is a name you could ferret out of her... But now Ailee has kicked the beetle. As the eels writhe and perish in the salt waters (what was she [i]thinking,[/i] turning [i]Her[/i] waters to salt??) there is a sudden swirling in the water. The Flood was content to leave the eels off a leash, but now she means to drag you all below— But she must have time; and if your motor were not unclogged by Coleman, time she would have. As it stands... working together, he and Lucien should be able to keep it clear and running hot, propelling you out of the nascent whirlpool and off to the Tyrian Spire, and you should be able to sail in through that huge empty-paned window frame, which once shone over a ballroom, from the looks of it, each wall a different book, now half-drowned beneath the water— And if you descend into this water, o Jackdaw, you will not be able to leave; not without a heroic surge of willpower, the kind Ailee might possess, or your friends bargaining for your return. Whatever you do, if you fall in, do not panic and try to swim back up; for all directions are Down when you are in the grip of the Flood. Speaking of “in the grip of the Flood,” Lucien just fell off the boat. [RL 4, making the [i]Separation[/i] move.] *** [b]Lucien![/b] The good news is that the Flood hasn’t even noticed you falling overboard (after an unfortunate sway of the raft and a thrashing, dying eel slamming into you). This means that, huzzah, you’re not being dragged screaming beneath the water (which, splashed in your face, you realize tastes a little like tears— or is that from Ailee’s spell?). You’re clinging to a now-limp eel, the raft is getting further and further away, and one of your shoes is threatening to come off. Oh, and the forming whirlpool is already pulling you away from them actively, which, you know, is a wonderful cherry on top. How are your kickboarding skills? [A reminder that one must pay a price to act against the Flood directly. Yes, even to escape her. She will not be content with anything less.] *** [b]Coleman![/b] To be lost down there is to be swallowed by a selfish, all-consuming love unworthy of the name. By the time you look up, Lucien’s already been swept away. You can try to put things into reverse, and expose yourselves to more danger (and certainly to finding out what’s actually down at the bottom of the Flood, and thus to likely losing your memories) or you can go full speed ahead and get Sasha, Jackdaw and technically Ailee clear. *** [b]Ailee![/b] This “god” is a [i]sore loser[/i]. This is just like the time you kicked that dumb beetle.