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

[Peteron]

Shit, fellas, I think one o' ye arr gonna need t' carry me arse up thar!" She said, chuckling weakly. "Canna climb a rope wit` jus' one hand, right?"

Tulgrog grinned at the challenge before him. Despite being a clumsy fellow, he was quite fond of physical challenges, and was determined to beat Kadeam's record. "I'll take you up, elf." She nodded, and he grabbed Cecia with one arm, and pulled the crippled elf over his shoulders. Once he was satisfied that she was holding on properly, he walked ten or so feet backward, then turned to face the cliff before him.

"Best be ready, elf. We are goin' up that thing top speed!" The orc laughed maniacally, braced himself, then began sprinting towards the wall, and rather fast for an orc of his stature. He jumped, grabbing onto the rope with one arm, the other on Cecia's shoulder. Tulgrog moved recklessly, doing very little to scale it properly. The brute pressed his right foot atop a loose stone, which caused him to swiftly loose his balance. He face-planted the wall of stone, but luckily still grasped the rope. Once he had come back to his senses, he pulled himself over the ledge, struggling to carry his own weight plus the elve's.

Cecia climbed off of his back, and the orc collapsed, attempting to catch his breath. He turned to Kadeam, a wide and toothy grin on his wrinkled face. "Ok, you win this one, but thats just cuz' I had some extra weight!" The orc began snickering to himself, then looked down to Deslock.

"Hm...I said I would go last didn' I? I guess I forgot." Tulgrog began scratching his emerald head with his index finger, his attention focused on the rope. "Well, at least the rope didn't break!"

Spoiler: Sporky

Not a problem! He would have helped you anyway! I don't mind it a bit, , I did the same thing with Nukey just now!

 

[Zemalac]

"Good work!" shouted Deslock from below. "What's the blockage look like? Is there any way we can get through it? And is that someone on the other side, or is it just the mountain grumbling at us?"

The rubble blocking the doorway in the mountain was almost a completely solid mass, fused together by the lava that had poured out of the hole during the eruption. From the other side came the metallic sound--crang, crang--as though someone were beating on the stone with an iron bar.

"Does anyone have anything from Verdan?" Deslock continued his stream of questions. "Verdan munitions, maybe? I'd rather not have to shovel our way through that unless it's utterly necessary."

 

[Peteron]

Tulgrog paced around the caved in entrance before him, deep in thought. Not like that would do him any good, he was never great when it came to thinking. After a minute or so, he moved over to the rocks, pressing his hands against their warm surface. He listened for any noises coming from the inside of the cavern. As Deslock had said, there was a metallic noise ringing behind the entrance. The orc began pounding his fists against the rough surface of the stones, attempting to receive the attention of whatever was inside.

"Hello? Anybody in there? Just hold your asses, we will be in soon enough!"

"Does anyone have anything from Verdan?" Deslock continued his stream of questions. "Verdan munitions, maybe? I'd rather not have to shovel our way through that unless it's utterly necessary."

"I am afraid I brought none of those fancy things, but I can start bashing the wall to shreds if you want!" Tulgrog happily pointed to the hammer on his back, then turned to face the others, with an excited expression running across his face. "So? Whats our next move eh?"

 

[Bluedemon322]

OOC: Im moving into first person in a pathetic attempt to make my posts better. If it bothers any1 let me know. Also, this may confuse you on the time, this is right after they leave to find people and stuff. I'll arrive in a concluding post wherever you guys are at the time.

IC:

I watch as the party of Adventurers disappear into the forest. I walk off to a part of the beach thats out of sight. I take a look at my shoulder. It looks pretty bad. The bandage I applied earlier had proved useless, and it was peeling off. I pulled it off, and waded out to the ocean to bathe it. The wave of pain knocked me to my knees. I remembered that one of those elves,some Celia or Cecia or whatever, had powers of healing magic. Where had she gone again? Crap. With the adventuring party. My shoulder needed attention, and she was the only healer that would care for me without slipping a blade between my ribs. Now with a purpose to focus on, I rushed off, still sopping wet, into the tangle of vines, disease, and poison that is the jungle.

 

[Zemalac]

"No one has any munitions?" shouted Deslock. "No explosives? Fuck it. Do what you can. Start clearing away rocks or something. I'll be up in a minute."

On the ledge, Tulgrog tapped the rocks experimentally with his hammer. The collapsed stone seemed solid enough, for now. He aimed to change that. He wound up, grinned as everyone around him ducked, and swung.

Crack

Splinters of rock flew everywhere, and the stone shifted. Tulgrog pulled the hammer back for another blow, and paused.

"Does anyone else hear that?" he asked.

"...Yes..." said a muffled voice from behind the boulders. It sounded like someone shouting through thick cloth. "...Not be able to...here please...thanks until you break us out!"

 

[Nukey]

Cecia Kelai, although still somewhat dazed from being handled so roughly by the orc, was pleased that someone at least helped her get up the cliff face. She looked at the wall of boulders, watching Tulgrog as he smashed the rocks with his hammer, somewhat amused by the sight of an orc attempting to damage to stone that appeared to be impenetrable. The smile faded, however, upon noticing the stone beginning to give way, so his effort weren't just a pointless, if funny, waste of time.

"Hmm...I be surprised that he's even doin' anythin' t' th' rock." Cecia said. "Well, is a' orc, after all, an' they can accomp-"

It was then, in the middle of her statement, that she felt something. It wasn't below the ground nor in the air nor anywhere else in the natural plane of existence, but it was to be felt, like a shadow looming overhead. The presence touched her skin and, upon realizing what it was, she froze in place, her ears stiffened and pointed upward. The others, at least from what she noticed in their own movements, failed to notice the disturbance in the local area, so the only logical course of action would be announce her find so the others would be aware of what they were walking into. How she went about announcing this, though, was perhaps a little too unsubtle for anyone to take her seriously.

"Sunnuva *****, this volcano is feckin' magic! It's filled wit', like, energy an' mana an' shit! Tulgrog, hurry th' feck up an' get those goddamn, shit eatin', brainless, yellow liveried, unimportant, mentally deficient feckwads out o' there so we can get movin' back t' the ship!"

 

[Peteron]

"Sunnuva *****, this volcano is feckin' magic! It's filled wit', like, energy an' mana an' shit! Tulgrog, hurry th' feck up an' get those goddamn, shit eatin', brainless, yellow liveried, unimportant, mentally deficient feckwads out o' there so we can get movin' back t' the ship!"

"M-magic? Like the sparkley colorful stuff?" Tulgrog drooled at the volcano, wondering what mysterious powers it held beneath its crust. The orc shook his head, then turned to Cecia. "Your right, we have no time to lose! I will go in, but I hope at least one of you will provide backup for me, I will need someone to watch my back in case somethin' happens. C'mon guys!" The orc began sprinting through the cavern entrance, yelling angrily as he went.

"Stop your fuckin' whining cuz Tulgrog is here to save the day!" He soon disappeared from sight, the darkness of the cave engulfing his body.

 

[MeatSpace]

At first the clearing was silent, before the thin form of a particularly exhausted elf was hurled from the darkness out into the daylight.

Then from the newly opened cavern burst the form of a very singed and rather angry looking Garril Rasput. Though given the nature of rather angry in relation to an orc as constantly furious as Garril. His perpetual scowl seeming that much deeper as he strode into the sunlight. Spitting on the ground with a mumbled curse he looked over the people who had assisted him in digging himself out (refusing to consider them rescuers.) 'A sorry bunch...' He thought, hardly a group worthy of joining this expedition. "To the person that was in that volcano with me and this elf, I know who you are and I suggest you step forward now and I'll let you off with just a beating." He looked over the group, eyes full of a fury so hot you would swear that was what had burned away the ends of his dreadlocks. "You endangered my life, and the life of a fellow crew mate with your reckless actions!" Now he was shouting, drawing his axes to punctuate the statement. "you have 1 minute to reveal yourself before I spread your ass hole over the top of a tree and pull you down to the stump! And I won't be telling you when I started counting down." Pointing with the head of an axe handle he awaited a response with a deep glare slowly casting it's direction over everyone present.

 

[Sporky111]

Magic? Kadeam thought, looking up at the top of the volcano and pausing. A thoughtful look crossed his face for several seconds, before Tulgrog bellowed in the typical orc style and rushed into the cave. Kadeam turned and stepped into the mouth of the cave, squinting to try and see.

Before his eyes could fully adjust, he spotted a form rush toward him. Swiftly pressing himself against the wall, it rushed past him. His eyes followed it, and he saw the limp body of an elf roll to a stop on the ledge.

Immediately after it came another orc, spouting threats and profanities as the race was prone to. It walked past and into the light, looking to be very fierce once the light touched him. Kadeam didn't take him particularly seriously until axes were brandished.

The ice elf quickly pulled one of his swords and pressed the tip against the orc's back. "None of us has been in the cave. Now if you'll put the weapons away and tell us what happened in there, we might be able to help you find the culprit."

 

[Shapsters]

Derlan did a barrel roll and suddenly propelled himself up, jumping into the air he threw his hands up, being in a particularly happy and relieved mood he certainly didn't want to start his newly released day off with a fight,

"Now Garril ole' boy let us not up in arms we be no?" Derlan calmly placed his hands on both the Orc's axes, "Ye had saveth my life in that retched cave so no doubt I shall support your cause! That being said these are members of our expedition!" Derlan smiled a wide grin and gestured toward the people around him, awkwardly realizing that all of the people around Garril were new members, "Ah... oh well... I'm sure there is someone we know around here lets just not jump to conclusions is all! We are all friends, live and let swim! Friends will be cheese. All that motivational stuff!"

As he spewed this nonsense from his mouth he dramatically waved his arms in the air and danced backward, one foot shuffling, then the next bounding when suddenly he fell off the ledge where he once stood and fell to the jungle below.

 

[MeatSpace]

"Listen to me, the people involved were using guns to fight. There was more than just men and Derlan in the volcano. They were fighting each other. I saw the ass holes in the midst of a fire fight and figured I could just kill the one left over but the bastards couldn't even manage to kill each other." He refused to lower his weapons and kept himself wary. "If you are telling the truth, and none of you were there then we have no reason to fight. I have already learned though, I can't trust anyone here. People on this expedition are trying to kill each other, and worse, trying to kill me. I have reason to believe that the murder of that old man was the work of similar traitors. We can only hope to root out the traitors if we work together. Me, Derlan, and the rest of us here are innocent. Those who are not, are suspect. I recommend we have them rounded up."

 

[Yorgmiester]

The vines, leaves and twigs of the jungle floor crunched with an earthy sound under Prithis' hooves as he made his way back down the hill from the wreck of the Osprey. Catching another glimpse of the beach through the trees, he noticed yet again that a number of those who were gathered there when he departed were not missing. The search party had left, no doubt, in search of Derlan and the other absent crew members.

Perhaps I should go find them and join in the search... the satyr thought, glancing back into the jungle and up at the mountain.

Just then a human came blundering through the brush, headed uphill into the forest, looking as though he was intent on finding something. His shoulder was wet and bloody; it appeared to be badly wounded. He halted a foot or two in front of Prithis, looking surprised and a bit alarmed. The satyr couldn't blame him.

"Hert?" Prithis asked, staring at the human quizzically. "Find heel?"

 

[Nukey]

Cecia watched with bewilderment as the scene before her unfolded, her eyes shifting back and forth between the orange skinned elf and a brutish, loud and rather crude orc. The former, a painted elf whom she swore looked familiar, matched the description that Royka had given her, thus concluded that this fellow was indeed Derlan. He was an odd one, even by the standards of their kind, and the fact she had even taken to notice to his bizarre movements, and the fact she also labeled them as "bizarre", unnerved her greatly. It was then, at that observation, she wondered if everyone else thought the same of her?

Not wanting to think about this further, she forced her gaze back onto the orc, and listened attentively in attempt to force that question out of her mind and hopefully replace it with something less stressful, such as news of someone being burnt alive or something along those lines; anything but philosophical bullshit.

"Those who are not, are suspect. I recommend we have them rounded up."

"Hold yer horse, ya green bastard!" Cecia blurted, stepping towards Garril with her one hand clenched into a fist. "Before we go aboot yer idee, I be havin' but one, wee question fer ye. What th' feck be ye doin' ou' in th' jungle in th' first place? I happen t' be ou' here lookin` fer herbs an' whatnot, when I saw yer wee orange colored buddy walkin' towards th' volcano, bein` followed by some human *****, which now seems awfully suspicious, considerin` I found ou' somethin' o' value be in this volcano recently, an', seein' as ye dasn't be havin' 't, I assume ye`re buddy has....Wait, th' hell be I sayin'? O', yeah, the bilge water aboot ye all bein' ou' here. Well, I stand by that question, regardless o' what I may be havin' jus' trailed off into, so th' feck were ya doin', greenskin an' orangeskin?"

 

[ThePuzzldPirate]

The Cepolada was strangely quiet, no stomping feet, no drunk sailors, even the rats were quiet...probably because of a certain cat but it was nice. Seeing how this was the only time you could swing a sword and not catch a sailor or their jugular, Rhee was on the deck trying to accommodate her new weapon. The sword itself was a curved blade with the metal left unpolished, except for the new edge that she recently sharpened. The balance was corrected in the new pommel, extended for two hands. She highly doubted she was going to need both to swing it.

She started out reworking her blocks and parries, wanting to get in the habit of blocking with the flat of the blade. It was easy to tell that her swordsmanship lacked the finesse of proper training, something that she was well aware of. The knowledge on how to use it was there, but her muscles awkwardly moved as if she lacked the instinct.

Her pace picked up and the beat of her feet grew louder as she went into her more complex routines. Soon, her body itself was attacking her invisible opponent throwing as many punches and kicks as sword swings. And still she trained in isolation, never letting her opponent defeat her, yet allowing her to defeat herself. How could she point out her own flaws in what she was doing? It was working, to an extent, as she was still breathing but she didn't just want to get by anymore. She blocked high, spinning as her free hand reached to where her holster should have been. With that cheat, her opponent was dead and bleeding out his invisible blood. She needed a better opponent, a real one.

 

[Bluedemon322]

John ran through the tangled growth of jungle, cutting through with his knife wherever needed. The voice in his head handled all the movement, so he was able to focus on the situation at hand. Where the fuck was the damn volcano? The volcanoes smoke is impossible to see from inside the jungle, and his memory wasn't a good enough guide to pinpoint its location. The pain was long since suppressed by his little friend, but in this godforsaken jungle who knew what diseases he'd picked up. Every where he looked there were bugs. Bugs in the trees, bugs swarming in the air, mosquitoes landing on him every few seconds. And bugs weren't the only problem. With the scent of blood in the air, who knew what would come to investigate?

"Hert? Find Heel?"

John swung around, knife in one hand, gun in the other. The devil himself had come for him! Wait...no. That was the goat-man he'd seen earlier. What was his name...Pithus? It probably didn't matter anyway. From what he remembered the goat-man hadn't been very fluent in Common.

"Yeah...you know healing magic right? A heal would be much appreciated...A little magic would be good for me right now."

 

[Shapsters]

Derlan raised one eyebrow and his mouth slightly hung open as Cecia stopped talking, his eyes darted back and forth to the other members of the expedition to see if they had understand a single thing she said. Placing his thumb and index finger on his chin he gently stroked while he thought of how to approach the situation. Sure she was a painted elf and could take a light jabbing but at the same time he was pretty sure she was accusing Derlan of being a suspect, it was more than unwarranted in his mind but she suspected him nonetheless. Indeed he needed to approach this situation carefully...

"Erm... madame. While your accent is as lovely I seem to fail what it is exactly you were saying..." Derlan twisted his face into what he thought was a suave grin, "Mind... slowing it down just a little bit so I may hear what it is exactly thou may or may not be not saying?"

 

[Yorgmiester]

Prithis bobbed his head up and down amiably as the human babbled on about something or other. The words "healing" and "magic" came up, so he assumed that his offer was being accepted. He had learned not to take to heart those frequent signs of aggression that humans displayed; more often then not the flight-headed little pink-apes were just acting foolishly.

"Sit." he commanded as soon as John had finished speaking. Taking a step forward, Prithis laid one of his big hands on John's good shoulder and pushed him down onto a nearby log. After a brief examination of the wound he let out an exclamatory snort, the emotion behind which was unclear. Whatever the case, he proceeded with the healing, much as he had done for the frigid knife-ear earlier, only without the needlessly painful fondling.

Soon enough John's shoulder was molded back into it's original shape and strength under the satyr's glowing palms. Prithis took a step back and examined the mended joint as one who would survey a building for fastness and durability. Everything looked to be in order.

"Good."

 

[Bluedemon322]

I carefully watch as the satyr places his palms on my shoulder. Power floods through my body, repairing wounds and feeding the horrible hunger. Its pure ecstasy, the hunger being sated, at least for now. And then it ends. The magic leaves and I nearly collapse from the sudden loss of power. The magic is gone, but god damn was it good.

I stare back at Prithis, now realizing that the wonderful energy filled this goat-man. Perhaps it would be a good idea to befriend him, at least for the moment.

"Thanks"

 

[Zemalac]

The tension of the scene before the tunnel mouth was marred somewhat by Deslock heaving himself over the lip and onto the ledge. "The hell is everyone shouting about?" was his first question. The second followed swiftly: "Mr. Naegling, I would deeply appreciate it if you would explain why the hell you're holding one of my men at swordpoint." The third followed even more quickly, as the Explorer actually got a good look at Garril and Derlan.

"What happened to you two?" he demanded. "Gods above, you look like you've been slow-roasted."

 

[Sporky111]

At Deslock's question Kadeam lowered his sword to his side, but didn't sheath it. "This orc was waving his weapons around, threatening to start killing people. Crew member or not, he was a threat."

He gave the captain an unfeeling stare, then looked at the assembled crew members. The orange elf seemed to be the most relaxed, which wasn't too odd considering the behaviour of his tropical, painted cousins. He even seemed to be making the other, red elf uncomfortable.

As he looked over them all in turn, Kadeam remembered something. "Tulgrog ran in after them, and hasn't come back yet. I'm going to go find the stupid orc before he gets too far away." He then turned into the cave and started at a brisk walk into the darkness.