"Hmmm... perhaps not quite as much as that..." Samir's words seem top vaguely be in reply to Joren's own, however, the artificer is obviously not fully paying attention. He blinks several times as he pushes the broom down into the barrel, extending far beyond the length of the barrel itself. Retrieving the makeshift measuring device, he steps back and lets it fall back to the floor, before lifting a finger to his lips and flicking his tongue over it again, as if to confirm what he already knew. 

"I would not make assumptions about the idea that this barrel was suddenly transformed. See this metal? This wood? These are fine materials, not the sort of thing one would normally use as a simple cooper. This barrel was crafted, and well done, for a purpose. And somewhere out there, a bit of the ocean has lost some gallons of seawater, that is now settling into this unfortunate house." Samir's eyes turn to the owner of the house, now far less reptilian than during their initial meeting. "Has the barrel changed in appearance at all, would you say? Or has it always looked like it does now?"

Malachi looks over Samir’s shoulder as he inspects the barrel. “A pity it is not fresh water.  Now that would be a find.  An unending source of drinking water.  Maybe we can fish in it?”  He looks over at the shopkeeper.  “Still, better to keep it closed up.  You don’t want some sea monster or the like blundering through.”

Joren stirs.  Being from the Dalmodh Plains far to the east, he is hardly familiar with the ocean, and yet...

"A portal leading to or from the ocean?  Is it worth investigating to exactly where?  Not only might some sea creatures be wandering in, but perhaps someone purposeful coming through."  He eyes his companions significantly.  Razmus and his followers, for example.

"Or if we are wanting to, we could be using it ourselves if it does not lead to anywhere too deep or remote, with land nearby."

Ashley stares in wonder at the crafted barrel as the boys talk about what all this could possibly mean.  She takes a glance and looks at Marion, to see if she can possibly read her thoughts, then finds that funny and just asks, "What do you think, Marion?  I've never heard of a portal before... and it must be to the West, maybe by Talmouth?"

She stands up and looks into the barrel herself, "What if this could be our way to Talmouth?  I mean, we were talking about how we were going to get there.. too bad there wasn't a way to figure out where this would spit us out, its quite a chance to just dive in."

“I don’t know” Malachi rubs his chin as he responds to Joren and Ashley “It could be tricky to determine where the portal leads.  What if it is not near Talmouth, but at the bottom of the ocean somewhere?  I am not sure how we could find out.”  He looks at the others “Maybe we should just seal up the barrel and take it to the Marshal for safe keeping?  Is there a lid here?”

"Transformed? No, it's always looked like that, though the water is new," The man says, trying to puzzle through what's going on. "Ah, yes, the lid is here. I must say, I thank you for rescuing me and helping prevent my poor store from getting flooded any further... But I've so many questions. You make it sound like the Lady has suddenly blessed my humble shop with random magics, But why me, and why now?"

Marion considers Ashley's question, and the shop keeper's as she runs her fingers over the side of the barrel. "I have heard of portals being created and used, but only by the most powerful of our order, and in years long enough past that the telling and retelling have given ample opportunity for exaggeration and fancy to creep into the accounts." She turns to the peculiar shop keeper. "You are surprisingly optimistic considering..." she gestures at the soggy floorboards all around.

"Hey, I sell curios. Weird mystery magics are good for business." He smiles as he taps his walking stick on the floor, but it's clear that the calculations of the time and repair costs that will be required are starting to dawn on him now that the initial thrill is past.

Ashley continues to stare at the barrel.  She wants to know if there is any way of telling what is on the other side.  A crazy idea pops in her head, "Hey!  So um, I'm not exactly a swimmer... growing up in the sands and all, so if anyone else wants to volunteer that'd be great.  But I was thinking, if I tie a rope around my waste and dive in, you guys just pull me out after about 20 seconds or so?  I can hold my breath that long.  Maybe I'll be able to see.. well something?"

Malachi frowns at Ashley “It is risky, are you sure you want to do this? I am not sure what we can learn is worth it.  But it is up to you, I have your back.  I am sure we have a rope around here somewhere.”  He looks over at Joren “Can you send your echo through the portal?  Does it work like that?”

Samir blinks, turning his attention to Ashley as she suggests diving through into the unknown portal. The war of curiosity and wariness is clear on his features as he regards her. "As much as I appreciate the spirit of exploration and discovery, Ashley, I don't think that I can advise any one of us personally and physically going through that portal. We have no way of knowing what is on the other side, other than seawater. It could very well lead to a spot hundreds of feet below the surface, places devoid of light with the water crushing down on you... It is incredibly dangerous, I think." 

Joren scrunches up his face, trying to think and answer Malachi.

"Sending my echo through - yes, I can do.  But not seeing through the echo's eyes.  Normally, I can swap position with my echo up to 30 feet away and then swap back a few seconds later as you all are seeing me do in the past.  But will the portal be allowing me to do the same swap through it?"

He pauses and shrugs.  "At this point, having been through so much risk, I am willing to try.  Or holding a rope if Ashley wishes to go through."

Ashley smiles at the others seeing the concern on their faces.  "Alright, let's put the pressure issue to rest."  She pulls out her regular tinder box out of her pack and her rope.  "I'm not really needing this, so I'll send it through this supposed portal.  If the pressure is an issue, it should dent it, correct?  It's made out of some pretty cheap tin."  She ties the rope around the tinder box securely.

She then dumps the box into the water filled barrel and watches it as far as she can till it disappears at the bottom.  Waiting about a minute or so, she then pulls it back up out of the water and inspects it.

The box comes up looking no worse for wear. There is no indication of denting, and just the barest amount of moisture crept in through the lid. Wherever the box went, it was not in obvious danger.

Seeing the moisture that had crept in makes her a little worried for the tinderbox she does care about.  Pulling that out, she hands it to Malachi.  "Can you see if the curio guy, or hey Samir maybe you? Can put wax or something around the edge to make sure it is water tight?  Thanks!"

Putting her pack down, she unties the rope from the other tinderbox and ties it around herself.  Handing the other end to Joren, she also grabs his hand to steady herself and she steps into the barrel.. then shimmies her way into it.  She looks around to her friends with a big grin on her face, excitement about the unknown radiating off of her.  "See ya in about 30 seconds!" and she takes in a big gulp of air and lets go of the edge, plunging into the water.

Joren steadies himself and braces against a structure.  No way is he letting go of this rope.  He keeps his echo active near the barrel.

"Pulling twice if you want me to haul you back, Ashley," he calls as he lets the slack in the rope slide and the fire genasi disappears into the water.

The water in the bubbles as Ashley's hair plunges in with her. She falls downward until the barrel a few feet, before her momentum stops and vertigo hits her. It takes her a few seconds to regain her sense of up, at which point she realizes that she is now horizontal, still submerged in water. She reaches out and can still feel the wood of a barrel around her. Conscious of running out of breath, she puts her hands against the sides and shimmies her way further. Soon enough, she emerges feet first out the end of the barrel to find herself bobbing up and down in water surrounded by barrels, crates, hammocks, and splintered wood.

It is dark, but Ashley's sharp eyes can tell that she is inside of a large, half submerged, heavily tilted wooden structure. The pale-red light of the setting sun shines in through several gaps in the wooden boards around her, though it occurs to her that in Tensmith, it seemed later in the evening than this.

With awe, Ashley realizes she is seeing the inside of large ship, the likes of which she feels certain no one alive in her home town has ever laid eyes upon before. A large rock intrudes through what must be hull, and the picture of what happened here becomes clearer. The ship must have run aground here long ago. It looks like it has been picked clean of its cargo, as what few crates are intact lie opened and emptied. The barrel she arrived through must have seemed innocuous at the time, just like the one back in the curio shop, though she can see it is a perfect match.

She thinks she could make it out through the hole left by the rock, though the vessel does shift and creak ominously as the swell of gentle waves wash through.

Malachi grabs Ashley by the shoulder as she gets ready to enter the barrel, looking at her intently “Wait, you may hear me in your mind.  It depends how far away the portal goes, just reach out if you need help and we will pull you back.”  he pauses, wanting to ask her to be careful and not to do anything reckless, but in the end just adds “Good luck”.  As Ashley works her way into the barrel, Malachi stands up next to Joren and grabs the rope, ready to help pull her back at the first sign of trouble.  

As Ashley disappears, Malachi tentatively reaches out with his mind, trying to determine if Ashley is close enough to hear. Ashley, can you hear me? Do you know where you are?

(Bonus action: Telepathic speed with Ashley.  Works within 4 miles for 4 minutes.)

The shop keeper watches Ashley disappear into the barrel, at a loss for words. Eventually, he says, "So wait, why exactly ARE you here, coming to my rescue? You hardly seem like regular passersby." He looks Joren and Marion up and down to make his point.

"Orders of Marshal Lanya," Joren drawls laconically, trying to head off further lines of questioning.  Counting off the 30 seconds in his head...

"Her regulars being a little busy at the moment so we are Plan B.  Usually getting the job done, though.  Focusing on holding this rope right now."

He nods at Malachi, as if to indicate that all further inquiries should be directed at the charismatic half-elf.

Knowing her time is limited, Ashley wades through the water as quickly as she can trying to hurry over to the hole left by the rock and looks out, seeing if there is land nearby and if so.. what is on that land.