Aisling's hands fly to her mouth in horror. "By the gods! They’re going to drown!"She whirls toward her newfound companions, urgency in her voice. "We need to do something!" She paces anxiously along the edge, "We have to get into the water and open the cage so they can get out! But will it be locked!?"
Turning to the three men who had chased the wagon, she runs up to them, rubbing her hands together nervously. "What happened? Why were they caged? Are they prisoners? Is the cage locked? Do you have the key? Please, we need it!!" As the tree men are frozen in shock, frustration overtakes her. Uncharacteristically for one as shy as her, Aisling grabs one of them by the shirt and tries to shake him from his stupor. But despite her desperation, her thin arms can barely move him an inch, managing only to rattle his shirt.
Aisling, you push your way through the crowd and address the men, shaking the closest man to you. He looks around his belt, shakes his head and points to one of the other men, "Th, th, the... He's got them!" he manages to stammer. One of the men still frantically searches around for a way down.
The other man fumbles around in a pouch, pulls out a ring of keys, and starts flicking through them.
Aislingmanages a tiny smile. If they have the keys, then this will definitely help. Better to have them before jumping into the water than having to pry the cage open.
As the man flips through the keys, the shapshifted changeling thinks of how she can assist. She doesn't know which key is the right one, but with the sky already darkening, perhaps she can shed a little light on the situation. With a flick of her slender wrist and a few whispered words, she summons four orbs of shimmering light that swirl around him, each of them shedding tiny snowflakes as they dance around their heads.
Even if she is nervous herself, she tries to find the right words to calm the man down a little. "Come on, you can do this. Try to calm down. Breathe… you’ve got this."
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
"Vell I am from Perrenland, I suppose ve all talk funny."The young knight answers the halfling with a friendly smile, then grow concerned over the halfling's sudden change in mood.
"I bow by choice fräulein..." He then states proudly to the green-skinned woman. "...but do not vorry, bowing is typically reserved for first greetings, I von't inconvenience you vith any bowing no more." He adds, returning the grin. He then gives the half-elf a friendly smile.
"You should come too zen, ze more ze happier as zey say." The young knight proclaims to the young human woman. "I am Cyriel Drachensteyn from ze Concatenated Cantons of Perrenland."He contiunues with a graceful bow as if he was bound to do this every time he first spoke to another.
The young knight's attention is then drawn to the commotion up the docks, thinking quickly on his feet, and as the cart plunges into the dark water below he grabs the the rope on his back, taking one end and dropping the rest on the ground, then moving after the cart. "Tie ze rope to ze saddle." He calls out behind him as he grabs the hilt of his blade with his free hand calling out again. "Anzünd!" And as he draws the blade and raises it into the air the blade spreads a bright light to shine his way as he takes a deep breath and follows the cart into the dark waters, hoping his heavy armour with swftly take him down to the cart.
Watching the chaotic scene unfold, Leif springs into action as the caged wagon splashes into the water. Having spent far too much of his childhood in a cage, Leif is eager to free the people inside from their watery fate. As Aisling is asking the guards for the keys and Cyriel talks about rope, Leif wastes no time diving head first into the water after the wagon. He swims down to the cage door and attempts to open it.
If he finds the door to the cage locked, he pulls out his lockpick set and attempts to pick the lock.
SoH: 10 Rolled in game log to pull out his lock picks.
Thieves Tools: 12 Rolled in game log to pick the lock.
Joy was already moving before she fully processed what was happening. A caged wagon—a caged wagon—had just crashed into the river, and the people inside were drowning. She caught sight of Aisling ahead, frantically shaking one of the men, and quickened her pace to join her. She placed a firm but steadying hand on Aisling’s shoulder—both a reassurance and a silent promise that she was there. Then, she turned to the man fumbling with the keys, her hazel eyes calm but unwavering.
“You know which key it is. Just focus.” She nodded toward Aisling’s glowing orbs of light, their soft shimmer reflecting off the metal as he flipped through the keys with shaking fingers. “Look—this helps. You can see them clearly now.” She wasn’t angry. She wasn’t demanding. She was simply grounded, and that steadiness had a way of catching on.
Lusia had barely gotten in her response to Aisling before the chaos broke loose. She barely caught the man in armor's comment about Perrenland before he was leaping into the water after the submerged cart. And the halfling had dived in as well! Aisling magically provided light - 'Useful', she thought - while the green-skinned girl was helping to try and calm the man down to find the key.
In those moments, wondering what to do, she realized the knight had said something about a rope. One end was still lying free on the ground - he had the other end. She quickly makes for the rope, to grab it as he had said. 'What had he said? Zee saddle? What is a zee saddle...' It then dawns on her what he meant. Grabbing the rope, she will try to attach it to the saddle of a nearby horse. Presuming there is one - and hopefully a large draft horse used to pulling carts.
Leif feels frustrated, having never attempted picking a lock under water before. He's quickly running out of breath and realizes the people in the wagon would be also, he redoubles his efforts to get the door open.
Aisling & Joy, the man fumbling with the keys, pauses and looks at you both. His eyes dart to both of your eyes, back and forth. He sighs and relaxes, focusing on the keys in his hand. He scrolls through a couple more keys on the ring before choosing, "This one!" he says confidently and hands a key to Aisling.
Cyriel, you've reached the carriage, which at its closest point to the surface is about 6 yards. It is lying on its right side. There is a lot of silt in the water from the crash, and together with the time of day your vision is obscured. Thanks to Drachenzahn you can see some shapes and movement of the hands grabbing at you from within the cage.
Lief, you dive into the water and swim swiftly to the carriage. You grab your tools, but the obscured vision and trapped people reaching at you thwart your attempt to pick the lock.
Lusia, You grab and tie the other end of rope onto the saddle of Cyriel's horse. (no need for Dex check, save your inspiration)
A couple of other folk from the crowd dive into the water.
A loud crack is heard by all those above the water as the front of the bowsprit, cracked and damaged from the fall, drops suddenly stopping short of breaking off. It is swinging and points precariously down toward those below the surface of the water.
Leif feels frustrated, having never attempted picking a lock under water before. He's quickly running out of breath and realizes the people in the wagon would be also, he redoubles his efforts to get the door open.
"Thank you, sir! You have been most helpful!"Aisling exclaims, turning to look at Joyand showing her the key as if the green-skinned woman hadn’t been there the whole time.
The warlock realizes she isn’t as nervous anymore—that Joy’s steady presence and the reassuring weight of her hand on her shoulder have eased her anxiety. What a great feeling! Is this what it feels like to have friends? Could Joy, a stranger she met barely ten minutes ago, become one?
Pushing those thoughts aside, Aisling says, "I'm going underwater. The lights will help. I will swim lighter as I do not have armor, I think?" Without really waiting for an answer, she returns to the edge, hesitating for a couple of seconds. Then, looking back at Joy and remembering her confident touch she mutters, "All right, Aisling, you can do this!" With that, she jumps into the water, not without pinching her small nose between her thumb and index finger before.
The frosty dancing lights follow her as she swims toward Cyriel and Leif. Once she reaches them, she holds up the key for them to see before sticking it into the keyhole and unlocking the cage.
Now that she's tied the rope to the saddle, Lusia isn't sure what to do. It seems she likely needs a signal, or is she supposed to signal? With the half-elf now diving into the water, and with the key, she isn't so sure pulling the rope is needed. In the end though to give the rope a couple of light tugs. 'Let's just hope mister knights gets that it means I need a signal once he's tied it,' she thinks.
She waits for some signal - like tugs on the rope - and then she would try to get the horse to move and pull the rope and bring up whatever is attached.
If he wasn't fully alert earlier, crashing into the dark waters of the Greyhawk city harbour definitely did the trick. Led by the bright light from his blade, the young knight sinks quickly, landing and planting his feet firmly on the current upside of the carriage, finding the halfling already there, struggling with the lock. A moment later they are joined by the half-elven woman followed by several bluish lights. As she holds up a key the young knight sheathes his blade and gives her a thumbs up and as soon as the cage is unlocked he would use the leverage from standing on the carriage to forcefully pull it open and pull people out of it, giving them each a yank to send them upwards towards the surface.
Joy feels a sense of pride at seeing the man find the key and Aisling's newfound confidence, beaming as the half-elf takes to the water with the key. She's certainly correct; the paladin would sink like a boulder due to the heavy equipment she's carrying. Boulder...Oh, their knightly friend is much the same!
She looks towards their newest friend and calls out, "I thinkCyrielwill need help getting out! Good thing he left the rope." It is then that the loud crack resounds and the pointy bit on the front of the ship breaks and starts swinging precariously over those in the water. Joy gives a surprised cry and hurries over, trying to grab it as it swings and keep it from falling.
Cleo smiled at Leif when he approached her during the boat journey. He seemed young and maybe just as out of place on this journey as she felt. "I'm sorry, Leif. I don't know anyone by that name," she says. "Maybe you'll be able to find them in the city? I'm looking for someone too. My brother."
On the docks, Cleo is slightly taken aback by the knight's accent. She hasn't heard an accent like that before, and she's not sure she even knows what or where the Concatenated Cantons of Perrenland even are.
"My name is Cleo Applesong," she says. "That would be wonderful, thank you."
Two women approach their group, and Cleo is astonished to find that one of them is green. She does her best to stifle the surprised expression that crosses her face. Her ma and pa raised her with better manners than to stare at strangers.
"Greetings, my name is Cleo," she introduces herself to the women. "We are also looking for an inn, yes."
- - -
Cleo freezes as the commotion unfolds before them. Why were those people in a cage? The gnome shakes her head. There would be time to figure that out later, but those people were clearly about to drown. Someone needed to do something, but she felt helpless. There was no way she could pull tall folk from the water. They would be too heavy. And that was even if she was a good swimmer, which she wasn't.
Before the gnome can react further, the knight, Cyriel, goes into the water in full heavy armor. Cleo gasps. He was certainly very brave, but would he be able to raise himself, let alone the caged people, from the water? But then Leif jumps in as well, and this only serves to make Cleo even more anxious.
Then she sees the bowsprit of the boat start to fall into the water. Torn between what to do, Cleo runs toward Joy and will try to help her prevent the bowsprit from falling into the water on top of their new companions and the people trapped below.
Cleo smiled at Leif when he approached her during the boat journey. He seemed young and maybe just as out of place on this journey as she felt. "I'm sorry, Leif. I don't know anyone by that name," she says. "Maybe you'll be able to find them in the city? I'm looking for someone too. My brother."
"That's okay, maybe we both will find our family in the city."Leif responds. "I'll help you find your brother if you want."
Joy barely has time to react before Cleo is beside her, small hands pressed against the heavy beam, trying with all her might to keep it from crashing into the water. Joy’s heart swells with admiration. It’s not about strength—it’s about spirit.
She casts a quick, grateful smile at Cleo even as she fights to hold the beam steady. Vibrations shudder through the wood as the others wirk below. They need time.
“Hold just a little longer!”she urges, voice filled with determination. “We’re not letting this thing take them down with it!”
Lusia, you position yourself at Cyriel's horse and await the signal, any signal.
Joy & Cleo, you hold firm the falling spar. Ensuring the safety of those below.
Aisling, Leif, & Cyriel, you open the cage. As soon as you pry open the cage door, five folks desperately push past and swim for the surface.
Spoiler for Cyriel's eyes only
Cyriel, just before turning to resurface, you notice another person you almost missed at the very bottom (technically the lowest side) of the carriage. They seem to be stuck.
The crowd around the docks grows as more and more folks come to see what is happening. Several of the City Watch (town guards) also come down and push their way through the crowd to have a look. The five rescuees gasp for air as they reach the surface. Some bystanders join the rescue efforts by positioning themselves nearby to help those surfacing onto the jetty and dock.
The carriage has been under for about 1 minute 30 seconds.
Aisling's hands fly to her mouth in horror. "By the gods! They’re going to drown!" She whirls toward her newfound companions, urgency in her voice. "We need to do something!" She paces anxiously along the edge, "We have to get into the water and open the cage so they can get out! But will it be locked!?"
Turning to the three men who had chased the wagon, she runs up to them, rubbing her hands together nervously. "What happened? Why were they caged? Are they prisoners? Is the cage locked? Do you have the key? Please, we need it!!" As the tree men are frozen in shock, frustration overtakes her. Uncharacteristically for one as shy as her, Aisling grabs one of them by the shirt and tries to shake him from his stupor. But despite her desperation, her thin arms can barely move him an inch, managing only to rattle his shirt.
Diving deep to the surface ♫ Nessa | Saxa | Auriel | Chase | Shenua | Arren
Aisling, you push your way through the crowd and address the men, shaking the closest man to you. He looks around his belt, shakes his head and points to one of the other men, "Th, th, the... He's got them!" he manages to stammer. One of the men still frantically searches around for a way down.
The other man fumbles around in a pouch, pulls out a ring of keys, and starts flicking through them.
Aisling manages a tiny smile. If they have the keys, then this will definitely help. Better to have them before jumping into the water than having to pry the cage open.
As the man flips through the keys, the shapshifted changeling thinks of how she can assist. She doesn't know which key is the right one, but with the sky already darkening, perhaps she can shed a little light on the situation. With a flick of her slender wrist and a few whispered words, she summons four orbs of shimmering light that swirl around him, each of them shedding tiny snowflakes as they dance around their heads.
Even if she is nervous herself, she tries to find the right words to calm the man down a little. "Come on, you can do this. Try to calm down. Breathe… you’ve got this."
Diving deep to the surface ♫ Nessa | Saxa | Auriel | Chase | Shenua | Arren
"Vell I am from Perrenland, I suppose ve all talk funny." The young knight answers the halfling with a friendly smile, then grow concerned over the halfling's sudden change in mood.
"I bow by choice fräulein..." He then states proudly to the green-skinned woman. "...but do not vorry, bowing is typically reserved for first greetings, I von't inconvenience you vith any bowing no more." He adds, returning the grin. He then gives the half-elf a friendly smile.
"You should come too zen, ze more ze happier as zey say." The young knight proclaims to the young human woman. "I am Cyriel Drachensteyn from ze Concatenated Cantons of Perrenland." He contiunues with a graceful bow as if he was bound to do this every time he first spoke to another.
The young knight's attention is then drawn to the commotion up the docks, thinking quickly on his feet, and as the cart plunges into the dark water below he grabs the the rope on his back, taking one end and dropping the rest on the ground, then moving after the cart. "Tie ze rope to ze saddle." He calls out behind him as he grabs the hilt of his blade with his free hand calling out again. "Anzünd!" And as he draws the blade and raises it into the air the blade spreads a bright light to shine his way as he takes a deep breath and follows the cart into the dark waters, hoping his heavy armour with swftly take him down to the cart.
(Athletics if needed: 26)
(Inspired athletics reroll: 18 )
Watching the chaotic scene unfold, Leif springs into action as the caged wagon splashes into the water. Having spent far too much of his childhood in a cage, Leif is eager to free the people inside from their watery fate. As Aisling is asking the guards for the keys and Cyriel talks about rope, Leif wastes no time diving head first into the water after the wagon. He swims down to the cage door and attempts to open it.
If he finds the door to the cage locked, he pulls out his lockpick set and attempts to pick the lock.
SoH: 10 Rolled in game log to pull out his lock picks.
Thieves Tools: 12 Rolled in game log to pick the lock.
DM for Tyranny of Dragons and Phandelver and Below, two in-person campaigns that meet weekly on Friday and Saturday nights.
Joy was already moving before she fully processed what was happening. A caged wagon—a caged wagon—had just crashed into the river, and the people inside were drowning. She caught sight of Aisling ahead, frantically shaking one of the men, and quickened her pace to join her. She placed a firm but steadying hand on Aisling’s shoulder—both a reassurance and a silent promise that she was there. Then, she turned to the man fumbling with the keys, her hazel eyes calm but unwavering.
“You know which key it is. Just focus.” She nodded toward Aisling’s glowing orbs of light, their soft shimmer reflecting off the metal as he flipped through the keys with shaking fingers. “Look—this helps. You can see them clearly now.” She wasn’t angry. She wasn’t demanding. She was simply grounded, and that steadiness had a way of catching on.
Persuasion to encourage man: 12
Lusia had barely gotten in her response to Aisling before the chaos broke loose. She barely caught the man in armor's comment about Perrenland before he was leaping into the water after the submerged cart. And the halfling had dived in as well! Aisling magically provided light - 'Useful', she thought - while the green-skinned girl was helping to try and calm the man down to find the key.
In those moments, wondering what to do, she realized the knight had said something about a rope. One end was still lying free on the ground - he had the other end. She quickly makes for the rope, to grab it as he had said. 'What had he said? Zee saddle? What is a zee saddle...' It then dawns on her what he meant. Grabbing the rope, she will try to attach it to the saddle of a nearby horse. Presuming there is one - and hopefully a large draft horse used to pulling carts.
(Dexterity Check: 6, for grabbing/tying the rope)
Rabbit Sebrica, Sorcerer || Skarai, Monk || Lokilia Vaelphin, Druid || Liivi Orav, Barbarian || Vanizi, Warlock || Britari / Halila Talgeta / Jesa Gumovi ||
Neital Rhessil, Wizard || Iromae Quinaea, Cleric || Lusia Varusk, Fighter || Roxana Raincrest, Rogue
(Re-roll Dexterity Check: 21)
Rabbit Sebrica, Sorcerer || Skarai, Monk || Lokilia Vaelphin, Druid || Liivi Orav, Barbarian || Vanizi, Warlock || Britari / Halila Talgeta / Jesa Gumovi ||
Neital Rhessil, Wizard || Iromae Quinaea, Cleric || Lusia Varusk, Fighter || Roxana Raincrest, Rogue
Leif feels frustrated, having never attempted picking a lock under water before. He's quickly running out of breath and realizes the people in the wagon would be also, he redoubles his efforts to get the door open.
Thieves Tools: 16
DM for Tyranny of Dragons and Phandelver and Below, two in-person campaigns that meet weekly on Friday and Saturday nights.
Aisling & Joy,
the man fumbling with the keys, pauses and looks at you both. His eyes dart to both of your eyes, back and forth. He sighs and relaxes, focusing on the keys in his hand. He scrolls through a couple more keys on the ring before choosing, "This one!" he says confidently and hands a key to Aisling.
Cyriel,
you've reached the carriage, which at its closest point to the surface is about 6 yards. It is lying on its right side. There is a lot of silt in the water from the crash, and together with the time of day your vision is obscured. Thanks to Drachenzahn you can see some shapes and movement of the hands grabbing at you from within the cage.
Lief,
you dive into the water and swim swiftly to the carriage. You grab your tools, but the obscured vision and trapped people reaching at you thwart your attempt to pick the lock.
Lusia,
You grab and tie the other end of rope onto the saddle of Cyriel's horse. (no need for Dex check, save your inspiration)
A couple of other folk from the crowd dive into the water.
A loud crack is heard by all those above the water as the front of the bowsprit, cracked and damaged from the fall, drops suddenly stopping short of breaking off. It is swinging and points precariously down toward those below the surface of the water.
The carriage has been under for about 30 seconds.
(Noted for the next round)
"Thank you, sir! You have been most helpful!" Aisling exclaims, turning to look at Joy and showing her the key as if the green-skinned woman hadn’t been there the whole time.
The warlock realizes she isn’t as nervous anymore—that Joy’s steady presence and the reassuring weight of her hand on her shoulder have eased her anxiety. What a great feeling! Is this what it feels like to have friends? Could Joy, a stranger she met barely ten minutes ago, become one?
Pushing those thoughts aside, Aisling says, "I'm going underwater. The lights will help. I will swim lighter as I do not have armor, I think?" Without really waiting for an answer, she returns to the edge, hesitating for a couple of seconds. Then, looking back at Joy and remembering her confident touch she mutters, "All right, Aisling, you can do this!" With that, she jumps into the water, not without pinching her small nose between her thumb and index finger before.
The frosty dancing lights follow her as she swims toward Cyriel and Leif. Once she reaches them, she holds up the key for them to see before sticking it into the keyhole and unlocking the cage.
Diving deep to the surface ♫ Nessa | Saxa | Auriel | Chase | Shenua | Arren
Now that she's tied the rope to the saddle, Lusia isn't sure what to do. It seems she likely needs a signal, or is she supposed to signal? With the half-elf now diving into the water, and with the key, she isn't so sure pulling the rope is needed. In the end though to give the rope a couple of light tugs. 'Let's just hope mister knights gets that it means I need a signal once he's tied it,' she thinks.
She waits for some signal - like tugs on the rope - and then she would try to get the horse to move and pull the rope and bring up whatever is attached.
Rabbit Sebrica, Sorcerer || Skarai, Monk || Lokilia Vaelphin, Druid || Liivi Orav, Barbarian || Vanizi, Warlock || Britari / Halila Talgeta / Jesa Gumovi ||
Neital Rhessil, Wizard || Iromae Quinaea, Cleric || Lusia Varusk, Fighter || Roxana Raincrest, Rogue
If he wasn't fully alert earlier, crashing into the dark waters of the Greyhawk city harbour definitely did the trick. Led by the bright light from his blade, the young knight sinks quickly, landing and planting his feet firmly on the current upside of the carriage, finding the halfling already there, struggling with the lock. A moment later they are joined by the half-elven woman followed by several bluish lights. As she holds up a key the young knight sheathes his blade and gives her a thumbs up and as soon as the cage is unlocked he would use the leverage from standing on the carriage to forcefully pull it open and pull people out of it, giving them each a yank to send them upwards towards the surface.
(Another athletics if needed: 14 )
Joy feels a sense of pride at seeing the man find the key and Aisling's newfound confidence, beaming as the half-elf takes to the water with the key. She's certainly correct; the paladin would sink like a boulder due to the heavy equipment she's carrying. Boulder...Oh, their knightly friend is much the same!
She looks towards their newest friend and calls out, "I think Cyriel will need help getting out! Good thing he left the rope." It is then that the loud crack resounds and the pointy bit on the front of the ship breaks and starts swinging precariously over those in the water. Joy gives a surprised cry and hurries over, trying to grab it as it swings and keep it from falling.
Athletics: 16
Cleo smiled at Leif when he approached her during the boat journey. He seemed young and maybe just as out of place on this journey as she felt. "I'm sorry, Leif. I don't know anyone by that name," she says. "Maybe you'll be able to find them in the city? I'm looking for someone too. My brother."
On the docks, Cleo is slightly taken aback by the knight's accent. She hasn't heard an accent like that before, and she's not sure she even knows what or where the Concatenated Cantons of Perrenland even are.
"My name is Cleo Applesong," she says. "That would be wonderful, thank you."
Two women approach their group, and Cleo is astonished to find that one of them is green. She does her best to stifle the surprised expression that crosses her face. Her ma and pa raised her with better manners than to stare at strangers.
"Greetings, my name is Cleo," she introduces herself to the women. "We are also looking for an inn, yes."
- - -
Cleo freezes as the commotion unfolds before them. Why were those people in a cage? The gnome shakes her head. There would be time to figure that out later, but those people were clearly about to drown. Someone needed to do something, but she felt helpless. There was no way she could pull tall folk from the water. They would be too heavy. And that was even if she was a good swimmer, which she wasn't.
Before the gnome can react further, the knight, Cyriel, goes into the water in full heavy armor. Cleo gasps. He was certainly very brave, but would he be able to raise himself, let alone the caged people, from the water? But then Leif jumps in as well, and this only serves to make Cleo even more anxious.
Then she sees the bowsprit of the boat start to fall into the water. Torn between what to do, Cleo runs toward Joy and will try to help her prevent the bowsprit from falling into the water on top of their new companions and the people trapped below.
Athletics - 7
Extended Signature
Characters: Bryony Alderleaf - Lvl. 4 Halfling Rogue (The Shattered Obelisk) ♦ Vesta Trevelyan - Lvl. 10 Half-Elf Sorcerer (Eve of Ruin) ♦ Ada Kendrick - Lvl. 4 Aasimar Paladin (Curse of Strahd) ♦ Selene Albion - Lvl. 12 Human Ranger (In-Person Homebrew Campaign) ♦ Phaerdra Tor'viir - Lvl. 3 Drow Wizard (Exandria Sandbox Campaign)
"That's okay, maybe we both will find our family in the city." Leif responds. "I'll help you find your brother if you want."
DM for Tyranny of Dragons and Phandelver and Below, two in-person campaigns that meet weekly on Friday and Saturday nights.
Joy barely has time to react before Cleo is beside her, small hands pressed against the heavy beam, trying with all her might to keep it from crashing into the water. Joy’s heart swells with admiration. It’s not about strength—it’s about spirit.
She casts a quick, grateful smile at Cleo even as she fights to hold the beam steady. Vibrations shudder through the wood as the others wirk below. They need time.
“Hold just a little longer!” she urges, voice filled with determination. “We’re not letting this thing take them down with it!”
Lusia,
you position yourself at Cyriel's horse and await the signal, any signal.
Joy & Cleo,
you hold firm the falling spar. Ensuring the safety of those below.
Aisling, Leif, & Cyriel,
you open the cage. As soon as you pry open the cage door, five folks desperately push past and swim for the surface.
Spoiler for Cyriel's eyes only
Cyriel,
just before turning to resurface, you notice another person you almost missed at the very bottom (technically the lowest side) of the carriage. They seem to be stuck.
The crowd around the docks grows as more and more folks come to see what is happening. Several of the City Watch (town guards) also come down and push their way through the crowd to have a look. The five rescuees gasp for air as they reach the surface. Some bystanders join the rescue efforts by positioning themselves nearby to help those surfacing onto the jetty and dock.
The carriage has been under for about 1 minute 30 seconds.