The Unknown: A Game of Fear, Ignorance, and Adventure

[Dragonrabbit]

"Have you no respect? Chopping up corpses like a butcher would an animal. And I believe our leader, Deslock, has stated he will not allow these psychotic traditions on his ship."

"Well gray-whiskers, as I'm sure you've guessed by now, we all have certain..." Reeko paused choosing his next words carefully, "we all have certain talents. God over there for instance," he pointed at Raven, "can do magicky stuff, I'm pretty sure Sir Shiny Pants is a medical doctor, and me... while I'm... I'm a doctor too. I can make you a potion for anything you see, as long as I have the proper ingredients. Here, let me show you."

He pulled out the cup filled with blood once more. He lifted it up and drank the blood, "Goes down smooth. Now, I'll make you a simple potion of restoration, it'll make you feel as though you've just had a full nights sleep." He sat down and started removing ingredients from pockets in his vest. He poured a gray powder into his cup, then he crushed several blue berries over it, and finally he poured a small amount of a thick orange- colored fluid in. He stood back up and offered the cup to the men, "Oh and grandpapa, the man wasn't missing a thumb, he was missing one of the more finger-like fingers."

 

[Zemalac]

Working together, Deslock and one of the sailors heaved another pirate over the side. They watched and listened for a moment, and were rewarded by the crash of water being violently parted.

The sailor grunted. "And good riddance to thee," he said, and spat over the rail after the body. Deslock nodded in approval.

The two man team headed off across the deck and acquired another dead pirate. Deslock took the legs, the sailor took the arms, and with a ponderous heave over the side he went. The splash rang out, the sailor grunted and spat, and they marched off to find another body.

Up on the foredeck Grummond was still trying to get all the blood off the wheel, and wasn't having much luck. He heard the rhythmic splashes when Deslock and the sailor tossed bodies over the rail, which soothed the captain's rage somewhat. Annoyances are easier to bear when you know that those who caused them are very, very dead.

Spoiler: OOC: Keep On Rollin'

The vote was almost unanimous to skip ahead to Tyb.

That was, however, before all this excellent roleplaying started happening. Once we reach a good point to forge ahead we will, but for now this discussion is highly entertaining. Especially for someone who knows everything that's going on (such as myself).

Have no fear: the second this event plays itself out and starts to get boring, we will plot-teleport to someplace interesting (i.e. Tyb). At the moment, though, stuff is going down that is possibly important and definitely interesting...

In other words, carry on.

 

[Flying-Emu]

Spoiler: A suggestion...

I would move to make this a secret action round then. Since there's likely to be several in-game days between now and Tyb, you would be able to get all the Secret Actions done (in-game) and then report it in the post arriving at Tyb.

Yes? No?

 

[Caimekaze]

Keil lurched onto the deck, blinking blearily. His appearance was completely out of character; his usually well-styled hair was disheveled, his clothes were wrinkled and h was sans hat.

"Sorry... I sat down on my bed for a minute, and... Well, you can guess, surely. Are the pirates gone?"

His eyes finally adjusted to the light, he started to glance around. The scene would have been amusing, if not for what had preceded it; a bitter, old man looking belligerent, a painted elf offering a cup to the weary-looking men and a knight assumedly glaring at said elf.

What really caught his attention on deck was the scorch mark. It was too smooth, too oddly placed to be natural.

"... What...
That scorch mark... magic, I assume? One of ours, or...?"

A mage. Definitely someone to be friends with.

 

[Shapsters]

"Ya, ol magey here can do magic stuff." Derlan looked at his crewmate, "Christ kid, you don't look so good, you alright? Had a bit of a rough time with the pirates? I was going to help you back there but I... got a little distracted."

Derlan bowed and spun around,

"I will be sure to watch your back better next time."

 

[Kaboose the Moose]

Spoiler: where in the world is Raven?

Just to clarify, Raven has been in his cabin since Deslock told him to get some rest. So the events that have occurred from then until now are relatively new to him.

Raven lay resting on his bunk, arms cupped on his head and staring at the wooden ceiling above. He listened to the gentle creaking timbers of the ship and the sounds of the pirate corpses hitting the water. Occasionally, the voices of the explorers on the main deck drifted down between the gaps in the floorboards to his ears, keeping him partially updated with the events unfolding above.

Seconds passed into minutes, the minutes turned into hours; Raven slept, paced, contemplated and meditated over and over again the events of the last few days.

"This is hopeless" he finally muttered out aloud as he scratched his head in frustration.

"Nothing makes sense on board this ship, I am dealing with too much of unknowns!. I must resort to further observation!"

The mage swung himself off his bunk and began pacing his room for the 27th time. He grabbed his journal and began writing hasty notes on the back pages;

We are still some way away from Tyb on board a ship with a murderer loose and a vandal terrorizing people, perhaps it is the same person?. Worryingly as well, a shadow haunts this expedition, a nameless nemesis whose face I cannot see. Making matters worse is the rest of the explorers who are riddled with suspicion about one another, and I don't blame them, but it is now come to a point where they are so indulgent in the affairs of the other that they may not notice anything else that could potentially slide across their reference frames.

Raven snapped his journal shut with a resounding clap. He was feeling much better than he did before, the energy coursed through his veins and the healthy colour had returned to his skin. Looking out the porthole he could see yet another pirate corpse hit the water.

"I think it is time to get some fresh air", he thought with a smile as he grabbed his hat and sword. The hat primarily because it was fashionable, the sword because he was still uncertain about everyone else and he had a feeling that his presence as a mage would unsettle some people.

Raven emerged on the deck just as Reeko was defending his corpse mutilating actions. It didn't take long to figure out that during the space of his absence the mood on the deck had swung from mutual comradery to anger and suspicion. Eager to avoid getting into a confrontation, Raven edged his way along the outer circle of explorers but close enough to observer and listen what was been said.

"Ya, ol magey here can do magic stuff. Christ kid, you don't look so good, you alright? Had a bit of a rough time with the pirates? I was going to help you back there but I... got a little distracted."

"Don't worry yourself about the past and I much feeling much better now, thank you!" Raven replied simply with a nod.

 

[MasterSqueak]

Marneus backed away from the cup, his eyes wide.

"Get that out of my face!"

Pushing the "potion" away, he calmed himself down.

"Alright. This is going nowhere, we should present our idea to Deslock or Grummond."

 

[ThreeWords]

Spoiler: I have returned

I have returned, having been locked out of the escapist by the a new firewall for 10 days.

Sorry to have been away everyone, and I hope I haven't missed/inconvenienced too much stuff.

By way of an in game excuse, I'm going to say that Jakob has been gibbering in his cabin under the effects of his favourite 'mind-leaves', and will now emerge groggily on deck to meet someone. Anyone is welcome to chat with him

Jakob stalked out onto the main deck, made peevish by a combination a a bad headache and a complete disorientation as regards to the time. He was sure it was meant to be early morning...

Shaking his head, he leaned over the side and watched the water, hoping the sea breeze would clear his head

 

[Zemalac]

Ah. Epiphany.

'S real irritatin' when you get somethin' too late, you know? I was ponderin' why Grummond would be comin' down my river and lo, here be th' answer: he got a pack of raidahs and sellscrolls catchin' a ride. I know dem types. Dey make a waterman like Grummond do things th' way dey think dey ought ta be done. Dat orc be a good waterman: but th' raidahs, dey not as cautious as dey should be. Dey don' know th' Ferios.

I send th' boys out, and dey get beat off wi' a magic stick. Sometimes you gotta chance it, and sometimes when you chance it your ass gets burned. Shrug it off.

Th' boys tell me dere's anotha ship comin' up th' river. Low-prow, slung down close ta th' water, painted blacker 'n night. Not gonna fuck wi' dat one. No one wants ta go on th' river today, not afta Grummond's sellscroll made th' water dance.

Emu, that is an excellent idea.

I'm going to run a secret action round that will include the next several days. Roleplaying will continue as usual right now, and in the background you'll be sending me things you want to do secretly on the remainder of the voyage to Tyb.

You might want to be more cautious this round, though--the crew is hypervigilant, wary, and paranoid after the murder and the pirate attack. Any action that requires sneaking around the ship has a moderately high chance of being interrupted by crewmembers performing impromptu patrols of the decks and corridors. Since you all are strangers on the ship, the crew suspects that Feron's murderer is one of the Expedition, so if they catch you doing anything out of the ordinary they're more likely to react with a pistol or a sword than merely a suspicious eye...

You can perform actions that would take a short amount of time (sending off a message, for example), or actions that would take several days to complete (constructing a secret compartment in the floor of your cabin or something--use your imagination).

The deadline for secret actions is Saturday afternoon (GMT-5).

 

[Dragonearl]

"Hang on a minute!" Alexis said suddenly popping into the middle of the crowd. "While conducting a ship wide search is a brilliant idea there is no guarantee it will shed you the answers you are looking for".

He turned to face Mark, "So far it is clear that during the pirate scuffle someone broke into your room and stole your stuff, but what if you were not the real target here?. What if whoever stole your stuff was counting on your ill temper and biased views to make a scene so that a search would be conducted. What if then, the thief was to plant the stolen items in someone else's room?. Considering almost everyone was on deck, this would be plausible. Besides, why would someone go to all the trouble to steal and destroy your perosonal effects only to stash the evidence in their own room?. No, while I agree to a search, because it could in the very least lead to you getting your stuff back, I don't think that we should all be too hasty to point he criminal finger at anyone till we have proof that they stole the items." Alexis said as he paced the deck with his arms crossed behind this back.

"Look, now I've gone all thirsty!" he began again but stopped as he looked back at Reeko and his blood cup.

"Maybe not!, but as far as I can tell everyone was on deck. I myself was right next to Grummond the whole time"

 

[Dastardos]

"Why the hell are you so paranoid about a ship wide search?" Mark shot back at Alexis.

 

[Shapsters]

"Woah now old friend, lets not get over excited here!" Derlan put his hand on Marks shoulder, who quickly shrugged it off, "Ok then... all I am trying to say is that Alexis may have a good point. Whoever did this isn't just going to keep the stolen ... property in his room is he? I didn't think so, so what do we do now?"

 

[Dragonearl]

"I'm not paranoid about anything, in case you weren't listening before I said it was a brilliant idea and that I agree to it. However, given your attitude towards the rest of us I strongly recommend that you consider how you treat the person that housed your stolen property, should it be found. It very well could be a set up. You are free to do as you please of course, but be weary when your dishing out your own brand of justice. The guilty and the innocent are hard to tell apart, especially among ourselves" Alexis stood his ground before the old man.

 

[Caimekaze]

"You are not searching my room."

The young boy stepped towards the embittered old man. "I am sorry that something of yours was taken, but my room is just that. As such, I can not allow you to search it. I shall gladly assist you in your search, but you can not come into my room. What exactly happened? I appear to have missed your story."

As he was talking, the boy's patch slipped off, to be quickly grabbed and held onto his eye. "Pardon me. In my rush I neglected to tie this on properly. One moment."

The boy turned away from the group and started to tie the ribbon of his patch.

Oh dear. I think I know what happened...

 

[ThreeWords]

Spoiler: Apologies

Sorry to dissapear again, but I'm about to go on holiday, and I'll be away till Thursday (or maybe late wednesday)

Have fun without me, and I hope I don't inconvenience anyone too much

I'll let Jakob be controlled by whoever wants to talk to him, as long as they don't do anything too stupid

 

[Octorok]

After much deliberation, I retract this statement. I remain Gris Axthorn, a greasy orc.

 

[Dragonrabbit]

Reeko sighed, "You're a paranoid bunch, ya know." He chugged the mixture in his cup, then wiped his mouth off with his arm, "See? Nothing to worry about." He stood there for a moment in silence as the potion took effect. He put the cup back in his pocket, and continued standing in silence. His arm twitched a little. His head started to twitch as well. *THUD!* He fell onto the deck, twitching madly. He started to drool and scream incoherently in pain. He seemed to be having a seizure.

 

[MasterSqueak]

"You are not searching my room. I am sorry that something of yours was taken, but my room is just that. As such, I can not allow you to search it. I shall gladly assist you in your search, but you can not come into my room. What exactly happened? I appear to have missed your story."

Marneus narrowed his eyes.

"During the battle, a member of the expedition vandalized Mark's room, and stole his possessions. Including his only picture of his wife. Might I ask why you do not wish for your room to be searched?"

*THUD*

He nudged Reeko with his foot, but the Painted Elf continued to have a seizure on the deck.

"Can we throw him overboard now?"

 

[Zombie_Fish]

Mareck noticed Reeko land on the floor with a very solid thud. He seemed to be having an attack of some sorts, poison possibly. Lightly Mareck kicked him with his boot, to no change, which wasn't that shcoking really, as a light kick would probably be as good a cure for poison as saying the words "Are you alright?" would be for death. He then prodded the elf slightly with one of the two swords he still had just to be safe.

"Can we throw him overboard now?"

Mareck shrugged at this question. "I don't see why not. More food for the rest of us." He then turned to Mark and craned his neck upwards so he could look the old man in the eye. "Oh, whilst we're at it, no, I don't want my room searched. There is little of value in it anyway and dwarves don't steal. We fight, kill and drink heavily, but not steal."

 

[Dragonrabbit]

Reeko stopped convulsing. He opened his eyes and stared at the sky. The sun was bright today. He was getting poked with a sword. He pulled himself up and stretched his arms upward, "Wow, I feel so refreshed, like I just had a full night's sleep." He playfully punched the old man in the arm, "See? No harm done at all. You just need a little faith." He brushed himself off, "Now, if you'll gentlemen will excuse I need to go grab some delicious fruit juice from my cabin, which, hopefully, has not been ransacked." He walked off towards the cabins.