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

[Caimekaze]

Keil watched the longboat go ashore, followed quickly by Derlan. Sighing, he bemoaned his injuries preventing him from going ashore; it had been quite a while since he had last been to the beach.
Or do anything, really.
The inactivity was beginning to set Keil on edge. He was by no means an inactive person; forced idleness was hellish.

"I... Just can not take this anymore. I need to do something. I've even started talking to myself!"

So Keil grabbed his crutches and hobbled from his viewpoint to find Deslock. It didn't take long: Deslock was just below deck, yelling at some crew members.

"I am sorry to interrupt your tirade, sir, but I was wondering if there was any work that needed to be done that I could do in my condition. I am quite talented with numbers, supplies, or even cooking if I need to."

 

[Zemalac]

"I am sorry to interrupt your tirade, sir, but I was wondering if there was any work that needed to be done that I could do in my condition. I am quite talented with numbers, supplies, or even cooking if I need to."

"Say what?" Deslock turned and peered at Keil for a moment before his internal filing system threw up a card. "Right. You. Hang on for a moment."

The explorer almost sprinted to the other side of the deck, shouting at a man who had just barely kept his grasp on a flat crate marked "FRAGILE." When Keil caught up to him, moving slowly on his crutches, Deslock asked, "Are you any good with explosives, by any chance? No? Damn. Where the hell is that dwarf, anyway?"

There was another interruption before Keil could ask for an explanation, this time by a sailor reporting that the delivery of dried fish that they had expected to receive in Tyb had, apparently, never made an appearance. When Deslock was done cursing he spoke again to Keil. "Right. You want something to do? Help me out with these supplies. We were supposed to receive some final deliveries while we were in Tyb, deliveries that never happened. Bastard merchants decided that since we had to leave by orders of the Provost they could just take our coin and send us the goods a convenient hour late. I need to find out what, exactly, we're missing."

He pulled a slim book from his pocket with a brutal jerk and handed it to Keil. "This is the inventory of what we're supposed to have. In this hold is what we actually have. If you could compare the two and tell me what we're missing, that'd be great. I've got to get to the island before someone gets into trouble they can't get out of. All right?"

__________________________​

On the highest point of the island was a tower. Or, rather, there was the place where a tower had once stood, a Zancharian fort standing guard against the barbarian hordes, abandoned since the death of that empire. It had fallen in on itself sometime in ages past, beaten down by the island. The vines and the trees had crept in slow and stealthy, and now all that remained was a ragged silhouette jutting above the trees, covered in vines and entangled in forest.

Doctor Nexaddo had paused at this tower, and had a quick sketch of it already in progress, when Derlan stumbled out of the jungle with a monkey on his head. The Doctor had arrived at the tower because it was obvious--a landmark, a point to make for and to judge positions by. Derlan, and Jonas following him, had merely been following the Doctor. Royka Nasheel and Marneus Calgar, crashing through the brush like an oncoming tank, had selected it as a destination for similar reasons: A, because it was in the direction the Doctor had gone, and B, it was the highest point on the island.

And so, one by one, those who had ventured into the jungle arrived at the ruined tower, bemusing Doctor Nexaddo, who had thought he was the only one out here.

 

[Shapsters]

"Sure is a nice view from up here, oh hey, everyone else is here!" Derlan spun around and noticed that a few more expedition members had followed him, including the massive Marneus, armor and all, he mumbled under his breath, "Just what I wanted."

He put the monkey on the ground, and the little creature ran back into the forest, he sighed, then scratched his red hair.

What to do? What to do? Hmm...

"Hey I feel weird," he said as he walked toward Nexaddo "I've got this funny feeling in my left arm, is my nose bleeding? I'm seeing things! Burnt toast!? I think I smell burnt toast!!"

With that, Derlan clutched his heart and collapsed on the ground, gripping onto the doctors short pant-leg.

 

[MintyNinja]

Rokya was trying to find the break in the trees that he had spotted earlier when Derlan collapsed. Crap! What the hell is going on now? "Doctor, whats happening to him?" He set his bag down and pulled out a spare shirt, bundling it up and placing it under the elf's head. "Can you do anything for him?"

 

[MasterSqueak]

Marneus walked up next to Rokya, prodding Derlan with his foot.

"He's a painted elf, this is normal for them."

He shook his head, and walked over to the doctor.

"During our survey of the area, Rokya and I located a source of freshwater, as well as possible civilization."

 

[Zemalac]

Doctor Nexaddo had been poking around the door of the tower, or rather where the door had once been. The hinges were still there, rusted into a solid mass, but the door itself was decidedly absent.

And then, just as things were getting interesting, something came up. As always.

The Doctor gave the elf on the ground a look of irritation. He made a quick check with two fingers on the elf's neck and, finding a pulse, jerked his trousers from the elf's grasp. Nexaddo turned back to the abandoned tower, muttering under his breath about letting a perfect specimen getting away. He tore a sturdy piece of vine from the wall of the tower--a makeshift rope, could come in handy. He then proceeded through the empty threshold and began to wander his way around the tower.

There was a door, set into the wall opposite the entrance. A stone door, that had survived the years since the tower had been abandoned: and on the inside, too, most curious. He tried the handle. When it didn't open he tried beating his frustration out on it, but it adamantly refused to budge.

"Sir Calgar!" shouted the Doctor. "I could use your assistance."

 

[MasterSqueak]

Marneus sighed, walking up to the door. He pressed his shoulder against it, straining to move the heavy object. Slowly, it moved back until it was open enough to slip through. He stepped back to allow Nexxado entry.

Spoiler: OOC

Excuse my short post, it's 2 AM here.

 

[Shapsters]

Derlan grunted in distress, he slowly climbed to his feet and watched Marneus push the heavy door open.

Damn... that didn't work, fuck... what to do?

Derlan saw Marneus move out of the way for the doctor to enter the tower, eying the papers in the doctors hand, a smirk spread across Derlan's face and his eyes narrowed,

"Those papers look mighty important..." he mumbled under his breath, "Man I feel much better! I have to take a piss, I will be back in a minute."

He spun around and sprinted as fast as he could toward the jungle he had recently emerged from, dirt and grass flying in the air behind him. He soared over bushes and logs and quickly vanished into the bush, completely unseen by the other Expedition members.

 

[ThePuzzldPirate]

Rhee start tossing in the sand before shooting up straight in the air with sand soaring higher. She was used to her mind wandering but usually her thoughts aren't so clear, she looked towards her bottle unsure of when she finished that too.

""

She quickly gathered her things uncaring about the many symptoms that were wrecking havoc on her body. She headed for the longboat stealing a rope from underneath the seat.

"Hey, uh...are you all righ-oh, okay," the sailor said as he backed away, which then broke into a full run as Rhee took off into the trees. He ran to another sailor which was making himself busy charting out the island.

His eyes left the paper looking at what looked like a frightened boy, "What, did the only women turn you down?" He sneered.

"Oh piss off," he sat on a rocks trying to calm him self. "I thought that ***** was going to stab me. It was like she was only deciding which intestine she going to silence me with." He looked to find his friend with his nose back in the paper. "Thanks for listening good pal," he said as he pet his seat, "look into her eyes for me when you get a chance, all I saw was a sea of red."

 

[Caimekaze]

Keil smiled.

Doing something, being useful. He missed this. Even if it was... secretary work, it was still work. It was easy, too. He had done much more complex stock take before; this was practically meditation by comparison.

"Hmm. We are below quota on fresh water. That is always an issue. Fish, jerky." Keil Chuckled.

"Haha. I wonder who was responsible for that."

Keil moved from the foodstuffs to the equipment.

"Well now... Hopefully we will not have to climb anything. I should make sure to notify Deslock of that discrepancy.

...

Now that is just peculiar. I can understand having less than, but more?"

Keil carefully noted down the entire inventory, before taking his crutches and hobbling off to find Deslock.

 

[Zemalac]

Keil found Deslock hiding in a corner, trying unsuccessfully to avoid the crew long enough to light his pipe. It was a self-defeating activity, in a way, as the smoke gave his location to anyone who cared to look, but the explorer's temper was well-enough known that most everyone made the conscious decision to pretend they didn't see it. Keil, operating under the assumption that a smoking Deslock could be no more irritable than a normal one, approached anyway.

Deslock nodded when he saw Keil, seeming almost amiable for a change. "I'm not seeing anything suggesting the island might be hostile to us," he said, "i.e. adventurers sprinting for the longboat, gunfire, forest fires or the like. This may be that rarest of places: somewhere where no one wants to kill me."

There was a pause that would have been awkward if Deslock hadn't spent it puffing contentedly on his pipe. "I'm expecting armed cannibals to come running out any second now," he added. Then, with a sigh: "You've gone over the supplies, I suppose? How bad is it?"

 

[Shapsters]

A small monkey ran from the jungle where Derlan had recently disappeared, it slunk up behind Doctor Nexaddo and tugged at his pant-leg, he looked down at the little brown creature and smiled,

"Hello little fellow, what would you like? Would you-" he was interrupted by the monkey grabbing the pile of papers resting under his armpit, it ran as fast as it could, holding the papers in its hand, "Hey! You little!"

It disappeared into the jungle and the Doctor stood awestruck.

"Hey what was that?" asked Derlan, who had conveniently exited the forest as the monkey ran in, "Did he have your papers Doctor?"

"YES! GET THEM!" the Doctor squeaked, waving his hands in the air.

Derlan shrugged and took off after the monkey, trying to keep up with the creature who was fully at home in the jungle and in the thick bush.

 

[MintyNinja]

Rokya sat back and laughed silently to himself at the entire spectacle. Once Derlan had disappeared into the brush, he spoke up, "I'm going back to the longboat. We need to let the next boatload know what we've found. That means the tower, the water, and the possibility of civilized life." He started off towards the nearest X-marked tree but stopped for an afterthought, "Do you need anything from the ship, Doctor?"

 

[Caimekaze]

Deslock wasn't easy to find. The man had a knack for positioning himself where people aren't going to bump into him by chance. Keil eventually found the man in a corner, lit pipe in hand.

Well, he can not be worse than when he is not smoking. In fact, chances are he will be calmer.

Deslock nodded upon Keil's approach.

"I'm not seeing anything suggesting the island might be hostile to us," he said, "i.e. adventurers sprinting for the longboat, gunfire, forest fires or the like. This may be that rarest of places: somewhere where no one wants to kill me."

There was a pause. Deslock filled it by puffing on his pipe; Keil was struggling not to laugh, both out of the pain it would cause and the odd looks it would draw.

Deslock stopped puffing. "I'm expecting armed cannibals to come running out any second now." Then he sighed. "You've gone over the supplies, I suppose? How bad is it?"

Reaching into his pocket, Keil pulled out the paper he'd noted the discrepancies on.

"In honesty, the situation could be much worse. We even have more machetes than we are meant to. Our main issues are with water and grappling hooks. The water is not that bad, especially if we find water on this island, but we have no grappling hooks. At all. So we are stumped if we need to climb anything.

As for the rest, we should be alright until we can get to another port."

Finishing his report, Keil shuffled uncomfortably.

"Is... Er... Is there anything else you needed assistance on? I hate lazing."

 

[Zemalac]

Deslock took in Keil's words slowly, sucking viciously on his pipe. "Grappling hooks," he muttered. "Aye. You were too unconscious to see it, but the crate labeled 'GRAPPLING HOOKS' contained, instead, some kind of assassin construct. Tore up the hold quite a bit, but it also took out whatever the hell was attacking us, so let's call it a wash." Smoke blew out the explorer's nose in twin streams as he exhaled. "Can't do anything about that now, more's the pity." He paused, trying to remember something. "Out of curiosity, how much of the ale have the dwarfs stolen?"

He waved the question away before it could be answered. "Never mind. Not important. Listen, I'm about to go over to the island and arrange for water to be brought over, and maybe some fresh fruit or meat if we can get it. There's a map in my cabin--not the big one, smaller, folded up on the desk--and if you could grab that for me that'd be great."

Keil, thinking the conversation was over, nodded and turned away, only to be ambushed by another question from Deslock. "Oh, yeah, just remembered...there should be a small crate down there that's not on the inventory, marked with an acronym and a 'do not touch' warning. I couldn't find it, but if you did...did the label on the box say CHQ or CDM?" He hastened to add, "It's not really important, but I'd like to know what's been loaded on my ship."

__________________________​

The Doctor stood stunned for a moment as the running monkey registered in his head.

"Hey what was that? Did he have your papers Doctor?"

"Yes!" yelled Nexaddo. Almost as an afterthought: "And we can't let the specimen escape again!" The call to action gave him a jolt, and he started sprinting after the elf into the woods.

Before he broke the line of trees he heard Rokya call, "Do you need anything from the ship, Doctor?"

Without breaking step he shouted back, "A skewer for this creature!" With this he entered the woods where the island monkey and Derlan had disappeared. Diving, ducking, and dodging trees the Doctor was moving as fast as he could through the thick jungle, but soon realized there was no point without knowing which direction the pair had headed--the monkey left little trace of its passage, and Derlan even less. He stopped dead, trying to think of a new course of action.

Those papers were important, dammit.

 

[MintyNinja]

"A skewer for this creature!"

And then the Doctor disappeared after Derlan and the monkey. Rokya shrugged, not taking the gnome seriously, and turned towards the two Merdallan fighters standing by the ruined tower, "I'll meet up with the second longboat and direct them back this way. Sir Calgar," he addressed the knight, "remember that the water, whatever form it may be, was in that direction. And keep yourselves guarded, there might be some locals down the back side of this hill." With that he turned and jogged down the Doctor's X-marked path.

 

[ThePuzzldPirate]

She threw herself through the thick underbrush, after hearing someone scream something, she came to a halt pulling on both hammers. She waited to hear who it was and edged closer. Finally getting a clearance through the trees, she could see two people and it behind them, luckily, you can't mistake the knight. She calmly holstered her pistol and hopped out of the bushes before looking suspicious. When she saw that they were the only two, she nervously smiled and took a seat on a fallen log.

"Hi..."

 

[MasterSqueak]

Marneus was leaning against the tower, a few feet away from the now barely open door. His hand rested on the hilt of his sword, but he seemed content to leave it in its scabbard. He was alert, taking a moment to look Rhee over and offer a nod in greetings, before going back to watching the area. Inside, he was considering his two current companions.

The Southern one is no doubt an equal or possibly better when it comes to the sword, but can he be trusted? He risked his life for a fellow expedition member, and he is of South Merdallan, but it is best to remain cautious. The Illarym, however, is an unknown. I would do best to keep an eye on her.

 

[Caimekaze]

Keil was a little taken aback at the tales of a crazy assassin machine.

"Oh, I see then. Well... That is remarkable, really. And it worked for us, rather than against? What a stroke of luck.

I shall be right back with your map."

The young boy began to slowly hobble away, then paused.

"I just remembered. The crate was labeled 'CDM', and a barrel of ale is half empty."

Slowly Keil made his way to Deslock's cabin. The crutches were beginning to dig into his armpits; Keil scowled. Upon reaching the cabin, his mood didn't improve; it was, naturally, locked. He made his way back to the explorer. "Your cabin is locked. May I have the key?"

 

[Zemalac]

"CDM," Deslock was muttering as Keil walked away. "Good, good...can't help the ale, would have to set a guard on it to get any changes...bloody dwarfs."

__________________________​

Spoiler: OOC

Spoiler: GM's Note

This section is being posted on behalf of ThreeWords, who is having computer difficulties at the moment--namely, he can't post.

Spoiler: ThreeWords' Note

I finally post! (sort of)

Feel free to object, in character, of course =P

"Hi..."

"Heeey..."

As the Illarym emerges form the trees and sits, behind her appears another figure, this one tall thin, and orange, trailing a mane of rainbow-flecked hair. From the forest emerges Jakob, who had long been absent form anyone's knowledge, and he sauntered in without a hint of concern.

"Sunsmile to you, Marneus," he says with a smile, "And you Rhee. By the Goddess, I'm hungry. Thrice blessed be the one who feeds me in my time of slight greed"

__________________________​

The Doctor seemed to be lost. Derlan and the island creature had disappeared with annoying swiftness, and now he had no idea which direction he had come from. He could hear running water nearby, though, and that seemed as good a direction to go as any. He moved now at a more cautious pace--who knows what kind of attention he had attracted while on his hectic flight?

Though, the world around him was still a wonder and could once again be observed. He made his way through the forest slowly, continually taking samples and making notes of the islands inhabitants. The treeline broke, revealing the water he had heard: a small stream flowing over mossy rocks.

The doctor stuck a finger in the water and tasted it. Fresh water! This would be good news, if he could figure out a way to get back. As for a direction, the best option seemed to be following the river's current. Off he went, with notebook and pencil in hand.

__________________________​

"Your cabin is locked. May I have the key?"

Deslock looked blank for a moment. "Oh," he said. "Right." A quick perusal of his pockets turned up two keys, one of which he tossed in Keil's direction. "Sorry about that. Come back here as fast as you can, all right? I think we're a bit south of where we should be, and I need the map to check."