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

[ThePuzzldPirate]

Rhee had a hard time telling who was talking to who. However, she was pretty sure none of it was directed towards her. She hung out some of her things to dry by the massive fire and took only her belt as she moved around the rubble. Her eyes gazed all around before she braved the cold and changed clothes with one of the many dead that littered the beach. She stripped a few more corpses, tossing away any clothes that have been spoiled. While some would be used for their intended purpose, she planned to turn the extras into makeshift bandages unsure of the limits of the mages.

Rhee stopped only when she was startled by two silhouettes being distorted by the many light sources. She didn't take a chance to find out who it was, she grabbed her loot and left. Unsurprisingly, some new faces found their way to the new camp in the short time she was gone. Deslock, however, changed the tone of the place. She didn't know how but tempers seemed to have risen. She decided to keep herself busy and help Prithis with whatever he was doing

 

[Shapsters]

Derlan suddenly burst through the trees, violently smacking at his hair as he desperately tried to put out the fire that had found itself atop his head. Sighing, Derlan stopped running when the flame was finally gone,

"Well... me mama always said my hair was fire red-" Derlan went silent as he saw the scene on the beach, his mouth hung open in shock as he his darted from tragedy to tragedy, "The ship! The sailors! The fire... The Unknown!"

Derlan's eye violently twitched.

 

[ThreeWords]

Jakob grinned, frowned and shook his head at the same time, and made a little gesture that very accurately conveyed the sentiment that Derlan had missed the point entirely.

"The ship, the sailors, the fire; these are the Known" he said, slowly and deliberately, "Our Unknowns are "What the fuck is this?" and "Who did you people piss off?""

 

[Zemalac]

Deslock wasn't really paying attention when Cid approached him, and was taken off-guard when the elf spoke.

"Who did you people piss off?"

"You want that alphabetically or chronologically?" Deslock replied without thinking. He blinked, and shook his head. "Sorry. That was...I mean, I've pissed off a lot of people in my time, but they're all on the other side of an ocean. I have no idea who those fuckers were."

He stared out to sea for a moment, before adding dully, "Ship's gone, though. Thorough bastards, whoever they were."

_______________________________________​

When Nex stepped into the firelight there was no celebration for those that survived. Words were hardly even exchanged. He spotted Rhee clutching a pile of wet clothes that must have been taken from the dead. A slew of judgments passed through his head; vile, demeaning, undignified, disgraceful...necessary...he sighed.

He limped to the next body he saw. He checked the man's vitals... again nothing. The Doctor gave another sigh and with a bit of a struggle pulled off the man's shirt and belt. On the Doctor the human-sized shirt formed a loose gown, but it was better than his current ragged clothing. The shirt hung to just below his knees. He moved on, searching the sand and the deceased by firelight for any usable remains he could find. Off of one man he was able to replace his lost dagger, and from the dwindling remains of another's shirt he wrapped his feet in cloth. Dim figures wandered past him, dazed or frantic as their natures took them. Larissa Cronin ran past, asking all who would listen about supplies, hooded figures and fire, while nearby a sailor stood staring out at the place where the Cepolada had until recently lain at anchor, his only movement being the slow wringing of water out of his broad-brimmed hat.

After a while, the ground illuminated by the fire had been thoroughly surveyed by the Doctor. Time to deliver his report to Deslock.

He approached the Explorer, who did not notice. Nexaddo cleared his throat.

"Sir," he said, "I've pronounced Mark Resdian, Keil Toren, and Jonas Thrace from our party dead and Landak Sflight, Omorn Chandler, Lamin Fletcher, Petven Wolf, Lannan Milner, Norin Tranny, Geon Carter, and one other from the ship dead. Thus far I have done little beyond the fire's light, though I propose a broader search for the deceased along the shore. I believe further collection of supplies should wait until the mornings when we can better see and ruins from the ship will have time to wash ashore..."

His voice trailed off.

After a moment, Deslock stirred.

"Of course," he said, his voice small and helpless. "As you say, Doctor."

 

[Lost In The Void]

Cid coughed as he looked at what remained of his ship, "This Expedition has cost us both adventurer; I only hope that whatever we find here, is of enough value to compensate us both, that is even if we manage to get off this rock."

Cid was in as bitter mood as Deslock appeared to be, though likely for different reasons; though many things burned at him in his immediate future, his merchant instincts also were looking to the far future to what would happen to him; at this point he wasn't liking his various hypothesis, "We need to get out of this area though, somewhere that doesn't have fire licking our boots."

 

[Saskwach]

Pain, heavy and dark. His temple swelled and pounded on his brain. He lay on wet ground, drenched and beaten about. Where was he? What was going on? He turned to his right side and reached out to push himself up so he might -

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

He screamed inside himself. He had fallen back to the ground, not even a foot, but it had felt so far his gut had flipped with vertigo. How had this happened? He regarded his right hand and saw a peculiar and horrifying truth: his right arm was gone at the elbow - a stump.

"What manner of...?"

And then again, a lurch. This one only took place inside his mind, but again his stomach wrenched.

I am Jonas Thrace. Knight. Swordsman. Guardian of my master's house. We would sit and drink and talk, we knights - but. No knight: my master is dead. The boy is dead. I am Jonas Thrace. Wanderer. Sell-swordsman. I hold my sword in my shield arm now, for I am half the man I once was. I am base.

Oh Gods it hurts. Jonas's stomach could take no more. He wretched and heaved, lying on the ground like a babe.

What had happened?

He had been on the Cepolada and..? They had travelled leagues and leagues. But how had he gotten here? Where was here?

A dragon? Sky walkers who called forth water?

Oh it hurt.

Jonas rolled over to his left and dragged himself up. The whole world swirled around his head and he felt again as if he would vomit. A forest. He saw figures now, gathered together.

He reached down into his chest to call forth breath with an effort that felt like a bellow.

"Hello?" he rasped.

 

[ThePuzzldPirate]

Rhee's eyes darted to the forest from where the voice was coming from, it wasn't a voice she could recognize so she looked around for answers. Nexxado look confused...or surprised, she couldn't tell, but his mouth opened and closed twice before making a very short statement.

"That sounds like Jonas..."

"" She drew her sword and ran towards the voice as fast as her aching body could take her. She managed to reach Jonas before he managed to even stand, she looked deep into his eyes before sighing again and sheathing her sword.

"You walk? I help you to Nexxado."

 

[Nukey]

It was quite some time before Cecia Kelai, having taken the cowardly yet strangely bright decision of hiding, emerged from underneath a piece of the floorboard that had landed near her when the Cleopolda had been struck, stained with the blood of a sailor unfortunate enough to still have been on the ship. As she moved the wood off of her figure, droplets of red water landed on her already crimson skin, a piece of a torn flesh landing on her boot, which she made no effort to remove.

"Th' feckin', piss shittin', hellish, demonic bull-feck just happened?" The shadow elf exclaimed, making no effort to censor herself as she spoke. "I mean, feck, that thar was impressive, but still, feck! How come I can't be doin' that kinda stuff?"

Cecia took a moment's pause as she looked around, observing the beach around her, battered by still raging waves and adoring the bodies of countless dead across its surface. Her initial thought was one of confusion, followed by fear, then a strange joy once she realized the silver lining of the situation.

"I be guessin' tis finders keepers, right?" The woman said to herself, chuckling. "Well, off t' lootin' th' dead, I suppose..."

 

[Saskwach]

"You walk? I help you to Nexxado."

"Thank you kind lady. And who might you...?"

Wait. Rhee. Yes.

"Yes. Thank you Rhee."

Reaching out with his left arm he took Rhee's offer. He felt tired and vulnerable but he took her arm. They began walking.

"What happened Rhee?"

 

[Zemalac]

The doctor hesitated at Deslock's weak reply. He began to move away, wavered, and turned back. No one else could hear what he said to the Explorer, but from his posture it appeared to be a lecture. Nexaddo looked for all the world like a professor in his lecture hall, explaining the universe to a particularly dim-witted student. Deslock straightened up, looking offended, and was just starting to reply when Nexaddo turned and walked away.

The Doctor was looking for someone, anyone with magic. All he'd been doing had been confirming deaths. His tools, his hands of science, were mostly useless here. It would take miracles to save the Expedition now, and while others might be willing to wait for the gods to provide the Doctor was not so patient. If there were to be miracles, they would have to make them.

Ah, there was Prithis, looking down at a body on the sand. Nex had thought he'd seen the satyr earlier. Good to know his eyes weren't failing him.

"Prithis!" he said. "You can heal, correct? Come with me to find those who are still alive. If there are any left."

 

[ThePuzzldPirate]

"What happened Rhee?"

"Magic win, Cepolada" lose," she replied grunting under Jonas's weight. It was only a small struggle as Jonas managed to recover his bearing partway back to the fire. She didn't leave his side quite yet, however, as the way he swayed made her nervous. She made a space for him to sit in the makeshift infirmary.

"Nexxado, look please."

Rhee left Jonas moving to the other side of the fire. The sun had finally made it's small crawl over the horizon, it's appearance only made things look more bleak however has the beach was in full view. Rhee spent a few minutes observing the situation and the surroundings, the work quickly added up.

It's going to take at least three days to get everyone off the beach...whatever hit us could come back and kill us in a minute, it's good I can look forward to that.

Her eyes stopped at the statue of flesh that was Deslock.

"Orders...boss?"