Watershed's got her fancy wetsuit on again.

Mandragora's wetsuit looks like it was probably made by the same people, but doesn't have nearly as many zippers.

Traceless has his own scuba equipment too - the wetsuit isn't particularly weird but it has the full face mask so he can have comms in there. Still, worth checking - "Any of you have ASL?"

She shakes her head for the pair of them.

<I'm a bit rusty, but fluent>, Kevin signs. 

Peeler shakes her head. "I know dungeon sign, but that's it." 

"I'm not expecting this one to be too rough on me but if it is I will be very chatty and talking just to talk so it's good to know who'll be able to chat most easily around the scuba," he explains to Peeler and Watershed while he pulls on his swimfins. "My gut says it won't be much inside, a couple critters that haven't left yet that only jump if you flinch, but of course a gut and a fretboard'll string a guitar, so they're playing it conservatively. I assume everyone heard that they want the monsters intact but if you skimmed that part the punctuation mark after it is pronounced 'several million dollars each'."

That's a lot of money, even by dungeon standards! She'll reassure them all she's not here to use her power. 

Kevin smiles. "Always happy to chat!" Maybe Traceless can tell him what Cricket's been watching lately. 

"I'm not very useful for catching monsters, but I'll point them out when I see them. My sensing range is quite good in water, and they stick out like a sore thumb."

"I'm not a combat esper but I'm hard to startle; I wouldn't mind lending a hand with captures, especially with the reward in mind."

"I have brought plenty of cages suitable for the size range expected. Anything else anybody wants to cover before we dive?"

Kevin glances at Peeler, who shakes her head. "We're good to go!" 

Mandragora concurs.

Then they can dive.

On the way they encounter an adorable little griffin-kitten. "Watershed, can you tell if that thing is breathing water or just holding its breath?"

She activates her power. How does the water flow?

It is breathing the water even though it is a griffin! How silly.

She indicates that it's the latter, then.

Traceless snags it without heading back up to the boat, then.

Down down into the shipwreck.

Camera onna stick underwater drone indicated that it's water on the other side too, and pretty dark. Watershed first.

In she goes. She's not bleeding this time, so her power spreads a little slower than it did when she was scouting for the portal, but that's fine. Menagerie is hopefully smaller than the bay.

It feels very small, actually. Still water with a desultory layer of aquarium gravel at the bottom and full of underwater pens. Can she feel the interface of the water with air above?

Yes.

There's one of those! The water has a surface.

She swims for it. If it turns out the light's too bad to see anything when she pokes her head out, she has a tiny flashlight for just such a contingency.

It's dim and spooky in here, but not actually lightless. Beyond the aquarium pens, which end infinity-pool style opposite the portal, there are rows and rows of cages. Big ones that would suit much larger creatures than Menagerie has ever fielded, littler ones for mouse-sized guys though still generously appointed with correct animal welfare proportions. Piled on top of each other, extending into the dark recesses of the dungeon, full of hamster wheels and chew toys and ratty blankets and water bottles and hay mangers and food dishes.

Every one of them is hanging open, hinges creaking as the occasional air current passes through the aisles of cages.