Wildsea: Explosions on the Wildsea!

Back to the trees! Here's last time.

Three of our wildsailors - Rozek, Kazera, and Tztik - head into Dusty Fields to search out Wir, the ektus slinger apparently looking to find an kill an ironbound named Lod (that enough nonsense words for one sentence?). Rozek and Kazera find Lod in the market; he's heading off the strip into another area of town, probably going home.

Tztik spots Wir lying on a rooftop aiming a pistol at Wir, and slithers up to another rooftop to watch (Tztik doesn't have any particular regard for Lod, and is interested to see where this goes). Kazera tries to talk Lod into getting out of the street. Lod is suspicious, however, and just then a bar opens up and a bunch of people stream out to watch a fight. Lod winds up on the other side of the chaos to the characters, and Wir, no longer having a clear shot, rolls of the roof out of Tztik's line of sight. 

Tztik repositions, and Lod moves away from the crowd. Rozek and Kazera have a quick "Fezzik, please?" "EVERYBODY, MOVE!" moment, and catch up with him. Just then, a small metal sphere rolls out of an alley towards Lod (and therefore the others). 

Kazera steps in front of Lod just before the sphere explodes. It releases shrapnel, which dings the ironbound a little and puts holes in Rozek's furs, but also releases a blast of electricity that demagnetizes Kazera's rivet swarm and scrambles her brain. Pieces fall off of her as she stumbles back, trying to gather herself up.

Tztik, meanwhile, surges off the roof and finds Wir in the alley, taking aim with her pistols. They drop down onto her with a club ("NO ONE HARMS OUR CREW") and knocks her down, but she pops back up and points a gun at them and another at Lod. Tztik faces off and focuses their psychic energy, pushing into her brain, and she winces, and then flees. Tztik rejoins their crew and helps gather up Kazera, and they head for the ship.  

But where, you might ask, is Chamberssen? Chamberssen staggers off of the ship a little after the others leave. He's still hung over (too much blacknut whiskey) but the hammering from the work being done on the Heart of the Seeker isn't helping. He wanders into town, perhaps thinking of getting another drink, when in the distance he hears a muffled boom and some electrical discharge. And then, a moment later, a much bigger BOOM from a different part of the town. He looks down and realizes that the float is coming apart.

Dusty Fields, you'll recall, is composed of multiple ships all joined together, surrounding one hub, the upended Move's Chorus. But something has disrupted the integrity of the place. Chamberssen realizes with horror that in its current condition, the Heart isn't going to survive if its dock goes away. He tries to signal to the crew working on the ship to secure it, using the strange mirror he traded a tzelicrae merchant for (back here). He fumbles, however, and drops it into the wildsea. 

The others get back to the ship, and realize what's happening. Tztik decides to find Estramu, the closest thing Dusty Fields has to a leader. When they get to Estramu's place of business, however, they realize that was the site of the explosion. An ironbound carrying its own arm staggers out, and Tztik asks where Estramu is. The ironbound tells themm that Estramu was in the room when the explosion happened; anything left of him is in there.

Tztik pushes their way into that room and finds only destruction. They also spot a chunk of a box embedded in the wall, and recognizes the markings. That box was the one the fightersap was housed in - that, apparently, was the source of the explosion. Just then, they hear a voice - Estramu! He tells Tztik to look around and find what looks like a chunk of mast ("that's my back"). He tells Tztik to carry it to the Move's Chorus, and Tztik surges through the town, moving through and between spaces and ships, until they get to the central ship.

Once there, Estramu focuses and pulls together a rudimentary body from debris on the ship. He tells Tztik that by his reckoning, they have about four hours before Dusty Fields comes apart entirely. He starts coordinating people as best he can, but tells Tztik that he'll need help.

Tztik obliges and finds some of the seams of the float, spreads out, and starts lashing them together with spider-silk. Meanwhile, the others have been informed of the situation, and they get to work as well. Chamberseen heads to Estramu and has him sketch on a piece of canvas where the seams are and where they need to focus their efforts. Rozek brews a powerful tea to keep everyone awake (it has the effect of making those who drink it loud and enthusiastic, but that's fine). Kazera goes out into the float and rallies her fellow ironbound to keep the float together.

The night wears on - Rozek mixes up some powerful glue to fix the joins, Tztik makes more silk, Kazera and Chamberssen rally the works. Chamberssen checks over the work to make sure they aren't missing anything, and Tztik shouts a Whisper - "CHORUS OF MINDS."

For a few moments, all of the consciousness on the float are linked. Reading any one person's mind isn't easy, but everyone can coordinate efforts. Tztik feels that they have tasted divinity, creating a hive mind with complex minds, and shudders in satisfaction. They also try to grab Wir and Lod's minds and put them in a "room" to hash out their differences. But that doesn't have the desired effect. Wir focuses and learns all she can about Lod, and Lod just tries to get away. Whatever the animosity between them, it's not a misunderstanding.

Kazera, for a moment, switches minds with Lod, and looks down at the sleeve of that nifty-looking cloak he was wearing. She realizes that it's not just a cool pattern, it's a map...and then she snaps back to her own body. 

The crew just has some cleanup to do - Rozek and Charness treat folks who were injured in the work. Chamberssen goes to the Move's Chorus and tries to find Estramu, but can't. He focuses on the fading group-mind, and realizes that Estramu's own mind and soul, spread out over the entire float as it was, was catalyzed to allow that melding. Estramu, then, is gone.

Chamberssen heads back to the ship, and on the way realizes he's being followed. He sits down and pretends to be confused, and the person following him actually approaches - Lod. He asks for passage off this place, since there's an ektus who's trying to kill him. Chamberssen brings Lod back to the Heart, and they agree to get Lod away (they're headed to the Emerald Wheel, and Lod says that's fine). They also ask about the cloak, and Lod says that it's a map, and he'll be glad to tell them all he knows as soon as they're out on the wildsea.

The crew spends a few days resting while the repairs to the ship are complete. Chamberssen gets the map of Dusty Fields that he and Estramu made and gives it to Estramu's crew as a memorial, Kazera and Rozek try to rest and repair, and Tztik delves deeper into their own minds...