karma's a relaxing thought, aren't you envious that for you it's not?
Team Walkthrough (Flora, Sohalia, Mateo)
The shifting mound bursts open at last, and it’s somehow worse than Flora imagined. A monstrous crab—easily the size of a small dinghy—heaves itself free of the sand, its barnacle-crusted shell glistening wet as if it’s just crawled up from the depths. Its claws are massive, each big enough to snap a plank in half, and one is tangled in seaweed, the other clamped around something that might have been part of a shipwreck.
The smaller crabs immediately scatter to either side, leaving the ringleader to click menacingly at the giant, who answers with a grinding rumble that makes the sand tremble underfoot. Flora feels the vibration up through her ankles and mutters, "...Okay, so apparently we’re building on top of a fuckin' crab nest. Great."
Spice, sensing the tension, sweeps low with a crackle of cold in the air, frost beginning to spiderweb over the sand near the giant crab’s front legs. "Mateo, if you’re gonna whack something with driftwood, aim for the eyes," Flora says brightly, stepping behind Soh’s jaguar bulk without a shred of shame.
Team Perimeter (Niki, Sunjata, Remi, Ronin)
The circling hel doesn’t scare easily—Ronin’s firebolts sear the air close enough to singe a few feathers, but the bird just gives an infuriating caw and wheels higher, out of direct reach. Then it dives again—this time not for the plans, but for the freshly placed corner flag.
Niki’s still within range to try his bribery idea, but the hel is fast, and as it swoops, two more appear from further down the beach, attracted by the commotion. One lands brazenly on a pile of stakes, tugging at them with sharp jerks of its beak, while the other glides low toward Sunjata, clearly aiming to provoke another reaction.
The perimeter line they’ve marked so far is now dotted with hel-shaped interruptions, as if the birds have decided this is their new playground.
Team Supplies (Danta, Asta)
The thing in the dune hisses again, louder this time, and the yellow eyes blink once before disappearing—only to reappear further to the left, as if the creature is circling them under the sand. The crate scrapes as it’s dragged further back into the shadows.
Then, with a sudden lunge, the sand erupts in a spray of grit and shells, revealing a massive monitor lizard, its mottled hide the colour of wet rock. It's not nearly large enough to take on the fyrhund or tiger, but even so, it's throat swells as it lets out a low, resonant growl. Asta’s fyrhund fire makes it hesitate, but it doesn’t back away—instead it drops the crate just behind its haunches and begins to fan its tongue, testing the air.
The shifting mound bursts open at last, and it’s somehow worse than Flora imagined. A monstrous crab—easily the size of a small dinghy—heaves itself free of the sand, its barnacle-crusted shell glistening wet as if it’s just crawled up from the depths. Its claws are massive, each big enough to snap a plank in half, and one is tangled in seaweed, the other clamped around something that might have been part of a shipwreck.
The smaller crabs immediately scatter to either side, leaving the ringleader to click menacingly at the giant, who answers with a grinding rumble that makes the sand tremble underfoot. Flora feels the vibration up through her ankles and mutters, "...Okay, so apparently we’re building on top of a fuckin' crab nest. Great."
Spice, sensing the tension, sweeps low with a crackle of cold in the air, frost beginning to spiderweb over the sand near the giant crab’s front legs. "Mateo, if you’re gonna whack something with driftwood, aim for the eyes," Flora says brightly, stepping behind Soh’s jaguar bulk without a shred of shame.
Team Perimeter (Niki, Sunjata, Remi, Ronin)
The circling hel doesn’t scare easily—Ronin’s firebolts sear the air close enough to singe a few feathers, but the bird just gives an infuriating caw and wheels higher, out of direct reach. Then it dives again—this time not for the plans, but for the freshly placed corner flag.
Niki’s still within range to try his bribery idea, but the hel is fast, and as it swoops, two more appear from further down the beach, attracted by the commotion. One lands brazenly on a pile of stakes, tugging at them with sharp jerks of its beak, while the other glides low toward Sunjata, clearly aiming to provoke another reaction.
The perimeter line they’ve marked so far is now dotted with hel-shaped interruptions, as if the birds have decided this is their new playground.
Team Supplies (Danta, Asta)
The thing in the dune hisses again, louder this time, and the yellow eyes blink once before disappearing—only to reappear further to the left, as if the creature is circling them under the sand. The crate scrapes as it’s dragged further back into the shadows.
Then, with a sudden lunge, the sand erupts in a spray of grit and shells, revealing a massive monitor lizard, its mottled hide the colour of wet rock. It's not nearly large enough to take on the fyrhund or tiger, but even so, it's throat swells as it lets out a low, resonant growl. Asta’s fyrhund fire makes it hesitate, but it doesn’t back away—instead it drops the crate just behind its haunches and begins to fan its tongue, testing the air.
