Chuubo 2-7

<Knockwood> Hiyo
<Knockwood> What's going on?
<Random_Nerd> Discussing what to do if we have no Laz.
<BethE> I emailed him this morning. And also last week but never got a reponse for then.
<Knockwood> hm.
<BethE> No Etheric yet either.
<Random_Nerd> V, if we have no Laz in 15 minutes, want to take Jasper for this session?
<@Verithe> Sure
<Knockwood> Let's see, we'd just been talking to Rinley's family, right?
<Random_Nerd> Yeah, and you'd come up with a plan.
<BethE> Bluebell park!
<Knockwood> We're going to park on a blue bell?
<@Verithe> Only if it's in the way.
<BethE> We're going to invite the Prince to walk in Bluebell Park and then shiv him.
<@Verithe> With a rapier?
<BethE> Well, it's up to Jasper as to how she wants to injure the guy.
<@Verithe> With a sun-tentacle-like rapier.
<Knockwood> OK, but will that solve the problem, or do they have another plan?
<@Verithe> My foresight is murky today.
<Random_Nerd> *sigh*
<Random_Nerd> I mean, if we cancel this one, we have to have Amyra next week.
<BethE> Our other plan was to go to the maskerade ball and duel him or embarass him into leaving.
<BethE> Or else Rinley will sell Jasper off as a teen-bride because there are cats burning, man!
<@Verithe> I agree with have to having Amyra next week.
<Random_Nerd> Perhaps we should do what we discussed last week, doing something related to one of the rest of your quests?
<BethE> I think mine were pirate ship and...the Hedge thing?
<Random_Nerd> Yeah.
<Knockwood> Nuts, I was thinking about how my quests tie into this...
<BethE> (And we can't really substitute any of the rest of us for Jasper.)
<BethE> (As a bride, I mean.)
<Random_Nerd> Suzy in a wig?
<Knockwood> aw, are you calling Dulcinea unlovable?
<Random_Nerd> Well, that too.
<Random_Nerd> But more importantly, distinct.
<Random_Nerd> She can't effectively suddenly pull out a skill level in "being Jasper Irinka."
<BethE> Yeah, but Suzy isn't here either.
<BethE> Dulci would possibly go along in the acting for a bit and then there'd be the 'cower, mere mortals!!!' and the Prince would see the difference...
<Random_Nerd> ...
<Random_Nerd> Dang it.
<Random_Nerd> So! Quests!
<BethE> Obviously Suzy has let you down by not being here. She has missed her destiny.

• BethE is now known as Rinley
  

<@Verithe> Since we're doing quests, I'm not being Jasper, yes?
<Rinley> Think that's so.

• Verithe is now known as Hisui
  

<@Random_Nerd> Yeah.

• Knockwood is now known as Dulcinea
  

<@Hisui> (Such power! Hisui can plus the Ooo!)
<@Random_Nerd> So, does anyone other than Rinley wish to do one of their quests?
<@Dulcinea> (Is it Adventure Time?)
<@Dulcinea> Which one is she doing? It might help with mine.
<@Random_Nerd> (Rinley is here. If there is Rinley, it is ALWAYS adventure time.)
<@Rinley> (And feel free to tell me to pipe down, since my arcs are part of the Jasper stuff too.)
<@Rinley> (No, it's always story time! Adventures can be part of the stories, though.)
<@Random_Nerd> So, to get things going, I'm going to suggest something.
<@Hisui> What quest is Rinley doing?
<@Random_Nerd> Before you get in touch with Jasper to explain the plan... go to where the Prince's airship is docked, and take a look at it.
<@Rinley> (My stuff was going to be involving a pirate ship and/or what connection (if any) I have with Hedge.)
<@Dulcinea> Ooh.
<@Dulcinea> Should we bring our buckles to swash?
<@Random_Nerd> Ready to start?
<@Hisui> Yes.
<@Rinley> Yep.
<@Dulcinea> sure
<@Rinley> (Leo could create a self-buckling swash.)

START

<@Random_Nerd> So, the Prince's airship is currently tied up by the docks, next to the actual aquatic boats.
<@Random_Nerd> It is, frankly, an entirely unfeasible craft. The part that isn't the gas envelope is roughly the size of a major hotel. The part that is theoretically supporting it is actually /smaller/, by a fair bit.
<@Rinley> "..and that's why you always leave a note!"
<@Random_Nerd> Also, the whole thing emanates a faint deep hum that could be machinery, but sounds suspiciously like purring.
<@Rinley> (It... runs on kittens?)
<@Random_Nerd> Also, a bit down the dock, there's a ghost pirate ship. So, that's a thing.
<@Dulcinea> (Aha! It's using a cat-and-toast drive for lift!)
<@Rinley> "So, that's the Prince's... ooo, that's new!" *points at ghost ship*
<@Hisui> "Is it?"
<@Rinley> (Leo's going to be upset that someone else beat him to the paper on the feasible cat toast drive.)
<@Dulcinea> "Hm. Interesting." (Did I being my nuclear accelerator?)
<@Rinley> "Let's go look at it!" *drags others along!*
<@Random_Nerd> It's almost certainly new. It's... very distinct. The sails are in tatters and either really thin, or actually translucent. It appears to be held together with a mix of tar and "a wizard did it."
<@Random_Nerd> Also, there are a pair of longshoremen muttering about it.
<@Random_Nerd> LS1: "In my day, ghost-pirate ships only appeared fleetingly on the horizon."
<@Random_Nerd> LS2: "Yup."
<@Rinley> (What are they muttering? Rhubarb?)
<@Random_Nerd> LS1: "They were a mysterious ghostly omen."
<@Random_Nerd> LS2: "Yup."
<@Hisui> "But they appeared, right?"
<@Random_Nerd> LS1: "They didn't just show up, one day, and stay there."
<@Rinley> "Maybe they're stuck."
<@Random_Nerd> LS2, to LS1: "Nope." Then, to Hisui: "Yup."
<@Dulcinea> "Indeed. Blatant violation of the rules."
<@Hisui> "Maybe they just got tired of being transient."
<@Hisui> "Rules."
<@Hisui> "What rules?"
<@Random_Nerd> LS1: "The rules. Back in my day, ghost pirates had some respect for tradition."
<@Dulcinea> "Rules of the spirit world.
<@Random_Nerd> You can probably guess the second longshoreman's response.
<@Dulcinea> "Can't go having hauntings all higgledy-piggledy."
<@Random_Nerd> LS2: "Can't."
<@Random_Nerd> LS1: "And they don't even menace the living, or set an eerie chill down the spine."
<@Hisui> "Oh! Tradition! I can understand that. Have a candy!"
<@Random_Nerd> LS2: "Shameful."

• @Hisui hands the longshoremen some candy.
  

<@Rinley> "Then what do they do?"
<@Random_Nerd> LS1: "Sometimes they go and take a few turns around the lake. Sing eerie ghost pirate songs that sound made up."
<@Dulcinea> "Take on ghost-supplies, have ghost-liberty, bang ghost-hookers? :)
<@Hisui> "T-there are ghost hookers?"
<@Rinley> (You really don't want to see ghost-herpes. It's scary.)
<@Hisui> (gawd)
<@Random_Nerd> LS1: "...well, yes. This is Town. Don't you kids go to school? Ghosts all over that place."
<@Dulcinea> (Forget it kid, this is ... Town.)
<@Hisui> "I just didn't think they...hooked."
<@Random_Nerd> LS1: "I... ah, shouldn't be talking about this with you. Go home, tiny child."

• @Dulcinea is mixing some kind of powder...
  

<@Rinley> "Obviously we must help this band of ghost pirates so that the docks can once again be only menaced by" *looks at the Prince's ship* "purring air ships."
<@Random_Nerd> LS1: "And neither one of them needs a thing unloaded. Taking up slots that could be bringing us some work."
<@Random_Nerd> LS2: "Yup."
<@Dulcinea> (Hm. If I fire up the Nightmare Invocation for this, will it still be available for the main quest?)
<@Random_Nerd> (Hmm. Page reference for that?)

• @Rinley hooks an arm in Hi's (Dulci's busy mixing stuff and Rinley doesn't jostle her since that one time with the blue powder and the week turned the color of oranges and smelling like dead fish....) and strides toward the ghost ship!
  

<@Random_Nerd> (Oh, you mean the Nightmare Engine?)
<@Random_Nerd> (It's once per season free, then you have to spend MPs.)
<@Random_Nerd> (And we're still in the same story, I think, until the Cat Prince thing concludes.)

• @Hisui is dragged toward the ghost ship
  

<@Dulcinea> (Nuts.)
<@Hisui> (not entirely unwillingly)

• @Dulcinea follows.
  

<@Random_Nerd> LS1: "Don't go on that thing, little girls. It's bad luck. Rule #471."
<@Hisui> "Where are these rules written down, so we can research them later?"
<@Rinley> "Make your own luck! Rule #7!"
<@Hisui> "How in the world do you people know all these rules?"
<@Random_Nerd> LS1: "The Longshoreman's Code is recorded in no mortal text, young whippersnapper! It must be learned piece by piece, working alongside your elders!"
<@Hisui> "471 rules? Memorized?"
<@Random_Nerd> LS2: "Also, Rule #7 is about proper rope storage. Uh, I mean... yup."
<@Dulcinea> "Make your own rules. Dulcinea-1."
<@Hisui> *mind blown*
<@Rinley> (This is why Hi is not a longshorewoman.)
<@Random_Nerd> So, the gangplank isn't actually up to the pirate ship. But there is a long piece of wood you could use, down the dock a bit.
<@Rinley> "Come on, Hi! Let's see if this will rest on the ship or just drop down into the water!" Grabs one end of the plank and starts dragging.
<@Hisui> "Oookay."

• @Hisui grabs the other end of the plank
  

<@Random_Nerd> On the one hand, this is a thick wooden footbridge-thing, about ten feet long. And on the other hand, you are twelve. And both of those hands are on the same side of the metaphorical body.
<@Random_Nerd> So, what's the plan, here?

• @Dulcinea strolls over and grabs the other end
  

<@Hisui> (three ends to a gang plank?)
<@Rinley> (We drag the plank over, and then lift it so that one end ends up on the ship, forming a gangplank. If it falls through the ship, then we call forth to the beings on board and don't set foot on the ship.)
<@Random_Nerd> (The other other end.)
<@Rinley> (And Rinley doesn't always think of her physical limitations.)
<@Dulcinea> (What time of day?)
<@Random_Nerd> The plank falls through the air, and clatters to a stop on the edge of the pirate ship's side. It makes a sound that is even slightly louder than you would expect a wooden plank to make when it falls some distance to land on a pirate ship.

• @Rinley will take the first steps on the plank. *calls to the ship* "Hallo, the ghost ship! Permission to come aboard?"
  

<@Random_Nerd> The boards creak, making a loud high-pitched sound. Well, that or the entire ship just screamed.

• @Dulcinea check over the place with her Eye of Outside Influence
  

<@Rinley> "I don't speak wood! Is that a yes or a no?"
<@Random_Nerd> The pirate ship has a bit of dust from Outside clinging to it, but not more than you'd expect for something that's on the lake. And it doesn't seem to actually be from Outside originally.
<@Random_Nerd> There is no further sound from the ghost ship.
<@Hisui> "Do you mind if I collect the dust off your ship?"
<@Random_Nerd> Out of the corner of your eye, the Prince's airship is obviously, blatantly, from Outside.
<@Random_Nerd> The ship makes no response.

• @Rinley will continue on the plank and onto the ship!
  

<@Dulcinea> "Hm. That tells us something."

• @Dulcinea follows.
  
• @Hisui follows Rinley
  
• @Hisui is on all fours, crawling the plank.
  

<@Random_Nerd> When you lay a foot on the side of the ship, you feel yourself falling, for a moment, as if the ship was immaterial to your foot. But just for a moment, and then you've set foot on the deck. Which is, perhaps, an inch or so lower than it was before.

• @Dulcinea debates how much she should study her companions...
  

<@Dulcinea> "Hm. No watch?

• @Hisui starts sweeping dust into a baggy.
  

<@Hisui> with her hands.
<@Random_Nerd> The dust clinging to the ship is salty, and smells faintly of tar. It'll take some work, purifying it. But you can do it.
<@Dulcinea> "Watch out for the ghost-barnacles there."
<@Hisui> "I hear some people eat barnacles."
<@Dulcinea> "I hear some people eat chicken nuggets."

• @Rinley bounces up and down on her heels.
  

<@Random_Nerd> The ship's a two-masted one, and looks to be built for speed, rather than cargo. Up on the deck, there... actually isn't much of note. A bunch of planks making up the floor. The occasional coil of rope, cold bucket of tar, and the like.
<@Rinley> "I have a sudden urge to play an accordion. I'm not sure why."
<@Random_Nerd> And everything smells like tar, and salt, and unwashed human bodies, and old dead fish.
<@Random_Nerd> The bulk of the ship is slanted away from the dock, in a way that suggests that it would have been pushed out of that position hours ago if it was subject to normal tides and waves.
<@Rinley> (Is the ship's wheel visible?)
<@Random_Nerd> Yes. It's tied in position, and there's nobody attending it.

• @Rinley will head toward it!
  

<@Dulcinea> "There really should be some sailors here..."
<@Random_Nerd> The wheel is near you. On the opposite end, there's a small enclosed area that appears to lead below decks.
<@Random_Nerd> LS2, hardly audible at the distance: "Yup."
<@Rinley> "Prince Eduard has talked about taking me out more on the ratships. But I wonder if it would help his status to bring him a ghost ship to travel on..."
<@Random_Nerd> Tacked to the deck by the wheel is... well, presumably, it's a map. But instead of being done with paper and ink, it's made of canvas, and the markings appear to be sewn into it with thread.
<@Rinley> "Hey guys! There's a way down below deck! And a map!"

• @Rinley will look for any treasure markings on the map!
  

<@Random_Nerd> The island of Town is the biggest thing on the map. But there are others, elsewhere.

• @Dulcinea examines the map...
  

<@Random_Nerd> The markings on them, in various colored threads, are obscure in meaning, and are symbols, not words.

• @Hisui inspects the other islands on the map
  

<@Rinley> (Is there an X?)
<@Random_Nerd> There's a red X, a blue one, and two grey ones, as well as various Os, Ts, vertical crosses, and odder shapes.
<@Random_Nerd> Town is the biggest of the islands, but not by a lot.
<@Rinley> "If X means treasure, there is a lot of treasure on this map."
<@Random_Nerd> The ship creaks again.
<@Rinley> "And what are these other islands?"
<@Dulcinea> "May also be the shipwrecks that the crew came from."
<@Hisui> "Is that how ghost ships work?"
<@Rinley> "Well, time to do more exploring!" *points at way down* "Time to see what's all inside this ship!"
<@Dulcinea> (I, being a BRILLIANT mage, ought to be able to puzzle out at least part of the map... :p )
<@Random_Nerd> Dulcinea, would you have seen any other sea-maps?
<@Rinley> "Hmm...I shuld be...sneaky." *sneaks over to the door and looks in*
<@Dulcinea> sure, from locating the occasional black pearl for my work, and/or from viewing the nightmaers of sailors who've been through near-Perfect Storms
<@Random_Nerd> Inside, under a wooden canopy that keeps the rain out, is a pair of doors set in the deck like a cellar door but more... piratey.
<@Random_Nerd> Dulcinea, this map doesn't look like those maps at all. They all vary some, but this is more unlike the others than most, and the islands it lists don't appear to be in the same sizes or positions as on any other map you've seen.

• Rinley is now known as Sneaky-Rinley
  
• @Sneaky-Rinley sloooowly opens up one of the pair of doors.
  

<@Random_Nerd> And this is including the really old and spooky maps, that purport to have directions to strange and magical lands like Atlantis or Russia.
<@Random_Nerd> You know the creaky sound a normal old door makes? Imagine that such doors were selectively bred by a people of door-herdsman for a thousand years, carefully raising only the loadest and eeriest of creaking doors.
<@Random_Nerd> Down from the door is a set of wooden stairs, descending into the dark.
<@Dulcinea> can I grab a lantern?
<@Random_Nerd> And it gets very dark in there. The day is a bit overcast, and the wooden roof keeps the sun's light out. But even taking that into account, it is quite dark.
<@Sneaky-Rinley> (I salute the door-husbandry of this ship.)
<@Random_Nerd> There is a lantern on the deck, but it is both empty of fuel, and broken.
<@Dulcinea> (Which means my various abilities will kick in in a few minutes, muahhahhahhah.)
<@Random_Nerd> Ghost-pirates, apparently, are not meticulous in their care of light-providing apparatuses.
<@Random_Nerd> (Indeed.)
<@Sneaky-Rinley> *whispers* "This is so cool!"
<@Hisui> "What?"
<@Dulcinea> "Rinley is weird. Film at 11."
<@Sneaky-Rinley> "Dulci, do you have any mystical light fairies on you? Phosphorous? A flashlight?"
<@Dulcinea> (That's... actually a good question.)
<@Random_Nerd> (Oh, and Knock, was that a boggle at Rinley, or just a dry comment?)
<@Dulcinea> (Dry comment.)
<@Random_Nerd> (Hmm. You didn't know you were going to be investigating a ghost pirate ship, and it's daytime. Would you be carrying a source of light?)
<@Sneaky-Rinley> "Hi, this is going to be an awesome adventure! We're going to goign where no one else in Town has gone! And you'll be able to get all sorts of weird exotic ingredients for your candies!"
<@Dulcinea> "Wait, we're going?"
<@Hisui> (I boggled)
<@Dulcinea> (rrr... can't really justify having one specifically, but hey, I'm magic! :P )
<@Random_Nerd> (Hmm. I could see Rinley having matches and a stub of a candle. Because it's Rinley.)

• @Sneaky-Rinley pats pockets. (Rinley has many pockets.)
  

<@Hisui> "I...only need the one ingredient."
<@Random_Nerd> (She always goes prepared for adventures.)
<@Sneaky-Rinley> "Aha!" *pulls out matches and a stub of candle* "Can this work with the lantern or do I need to carry the candle?"
<@Hisui> "I mean, there's sugar and other things, but the outside dust is the important ingredient."

• @Dulcinea checks out the lantern...
  

<@Random_Nerd> Well, there's a candlestick by the wheel, but no candle in it.
<@Hisui> "Though I could experiment with fruit juices...."
<@Sneaky-Rinley> "And of course I'm going, Dulci. And as my friends, you guys will come to to make sure that I'm not ravished by depraved ghost pirate...ravishers."
<@Dulcinea> "You remember we kinda need to fix the problem with the cats first?"
<@Sneaky-Rinley> "Yeah, but if we can, we can put some of the cats on this ship and send them off to those other islands on the map!"

• @Dulcinea grabs the candlestick...
  
• @Sneaky-Rinley hands over the stub and matches.
  

<@Dulcinea> "Well, there is a long-standing tradition of ships' cats..."

• @Dulcinea preps the light.
  

<@Random_Nerd> The ship creaks as you say the word "cat."
<@Dulcinea> (Me specifically?)
<@Random_Nerd> (The most recent time it was said.)
<@Dulcinea> "...'Cat!'
<@Sneaky-Rinley> (Bluker?)
<@Random_Nerd> Nothing, that time.
<@Dulcinea> " 'ships' cats'
<@Random_Nerd> Nope.
<@Dulcinea> " ... tradition.
<@Sneaky-Rinley> "Okay, I'll sneak down the ladder and hopefully you can hand down the candle once I get down on the floor."
<@Random_Nerd> The wind picks up, but that might have just been chance. The wind does stuff like that.
<@Dulcinea> "Assuming you find a deck..."
<@Sneaky-Rinley> (Now, sing the entire song of 'Tradition' from Fiddler on the Roof.)
<@Dulcinea> (If you don't, dibs on your XBox. :) )
<@Sneaky-Rinley> "Well, if I hit the water, I can swim."
<@Hisui> "Did anyone check for the name of this ship?"
<@Random_Nerd> Nobody did!
<@Sneaky-Rinley> (Darn that nobody!)

• @Dulcinea searches around the wheel and map...
  

<@Sneaky-Rinley> (It could be on the bow...)

• @Hisui looks over the side of the ship
  

<@Random_Nerd> There are a few odds and ends. There was the candlestick, the map of waxed canvas and thread, the wheel itself, a rope tied to the wheel, quite a bit of dirt and sand...
<@Random_Nerd> On the side of the ship is painted... well, two names, really. The first one, now painted over, said that this was the Queen Anne. The second, fresher-looking but also cruder, says that this is "Ghost Pirate Ship."
<@Random_Nerd> A... bit on the nose, that.
<@Dulcinea> "Greeeeeat, we're dealing with generic ghosts."

• @Sneaky-Rinley gets on the ladder and prepares to climb down.
  

<@Hisui> "Are all ghost pirate ships named like that?"
<@Random_Nerd> As Rinley climbs down the ladder, the hatches are swept shut by a sudden gust of wind!

• @Sneaky-Rinley meeps!
  

<@Random_Nerd> Rinley, you're not in complete darkness, but it'll take a while for your eyes to adjust before you can see much.
<@Hisui> "It sounds like it's trying too hard. And do ghost pirates normally sail in places prone to Outside dust?"
<@Sneaky-Rinley> (I claim an XP for sneaking into someplace i shouldn't go!)
<@Random_Nerd> (Acceptable!)
<@Dulcinea> (Where are we? Still on deck?)
<@Random_Nerd> (Yes.)
<@Sneaky-Rinley> "Darn it! Dulci has my candle! Oh well."

• @Dulcinea reopens the hatch. "Boooooo."
  

<@Sneaky-Rinley> (Ooo...can I invoke cat-stuff for seeing in the dark?)
<@Random_Nerd> The hatch resists being opened, as if it's being held down by a strong wind. There is, however, no such wind in evidence.
<@Random_Nerd> You can make a bit of progress, but can't open it all the way on your own without using some kind of power.

• lazarus has joined #Nobilis
  

<@Random_Nerd> (Hmm... sure. What's your Cat-Speaker level?)
<@Dulcinea> (LAZ!)
<@Sneaky-Rinley> (2)
<@Hisui> (LAZ!)
<lazarus> (... damn I'm sorry. I had a feeling for the past couple hours "I'm supposed to be doing something" ...)
<@Random_Nerd> (Hmm. In the crack of light coming in through the hatch, you can see that the ladder goes down a long way.)
<@Random_Nerd> (Like, far longer than the ship itself seemed to, from outside.)
<lazarus> (had the day off work; screwed with my mind a bit.)

• @Dulcinea grabs a rope and looks for a pulley or a well-placed mast
  

<@Sneaky-Rinley> (Did you get my email?)
<@Random_Nerd> Pulley, no. Mast, yes.
<@Sneaky-Rinley> (And I would also do the all-caps thing but I'm clinging to the ladder inside a ghost ship at the moment. ^^ )
<lazarus> (I did! and then I forgot!  :()
<@Random_Nerd> Rinley, you feel a sort of wind pushing you down. It's like you'd expect if there were a severe storm, and the hatch was open. The wind appears to be coming right out of the wood of the hatch.
<@Dulcinea> (OK, we can throw the rope over the mast and tie it to the hatch, then what...)
<@Random_Nerd> You can hold the ladder against its force without significant effort, though.
<@Sneaky-Rinley> "Huh. Duci was kinda-right. I don't think I could reach back up for the candle." *looks at the hatch* "And the others would have had this open if they could..so...onward to adventure! Er, I guess, downward!"

• @Sneaky-Rinley climbs downward. *to the wind* "I'm going, I'm going, you don't have to be pushy!"
  

<@Random_Nerd> The wind, audible only to Rinley: "Come down! There are adventures to be had down here. With pirates!"
<@Dulcinea> (There an anchor handy or other weight?)
<@Random_Nerd> The anchors are currently deployed, but you could start pulling one up with a crank.

• @Hisui looks around for other doors.
  

<@Random_Nerd> (The cranks aren't close enough to be used for that rope, as they're set into the side of the bow.)
<@Random_Nerd> You think you see something down, far below you.
<@Dulcinea> (Ah, may not have to. I'll pull an anchor up just enough so that when I tie the rope to the chain and release it it holds the hatch open.
<@Sneaky-Rinley> "Whoo! Don't have to tell me twice..."
<@Random_Nerd> (You can do that.)
<@Random_Nerd> (Oh, and it might be useful to commit yourself to saving Rinley here, if I recall your quests correctly.)
<@Dulcinea> (Hatch open, then?)
<@Random_Nerd> (Someone is in danger, and needs to be saved! With engineering!)
<@Dulcinea> (Ah yes, thanks for reminding me.)
<@Dulcinea> "Some lunatic has gone into the hull of a ghost ship. Time to save her! The exact reason why escapes me, but... saving her!"
<@Random_Nerd> Rinley, you hear a ghostly sea shanty being sung, in the depths of this incongruously-deep pirate ship.
<@Hisui> "Can't you open the hatch?"
<@Sneaky-Rinley> (I'm not just some lunatic! I'm the group's lunatic!)
<@Dulcinea> "Just did." (releasing the anchor.)
<@Sneaky-Rinley> (Do I know the song?)
<@Hisui> "Oh."

• @Hisui cleans her glasses.
  

<@Hisui> "Oh, right."
<@Random_Nerd> And with that, the hatch swings open.
<@Random_Nerd> The force holding it down wasn't strong enough to stop the weight of the anchor!

• @Dulcinea heads down the ladder with the candle.
  
• @Sneaky-Rinley calls down the ladder as she climbs farther down. "Does anyone know The Captain's Wife's Lament"?
  

<@Random_Nerd> (And Dulcinea gets an XP toward Someone's In Trouble.)
<@Random_Nerd> Dulcinea, as you pass in, you feel an odd sensation. Outside the hatch, the wind is pretty mild. Inside, it's like you're being shoved down by gale-force winds.
<@Dulcinea> "I think they just call it 'the clap'"
<@Random_Nerd> And the division between the two is sharp, right at the entrance.
<@Random_Nerd> Oddly, this wind does not affect the candle at all.
<@Hisui> "Rinley?"
<@Dulcinea> "Perception of wind with no effects. I know this so well."
<@Sneaky-Rinley> (Am I close neough for them to hear me or me hear them?)
<@Dulcinea> (Keeps coming up in nightmares.)
<@Random_Nerd> Dulcinea, you hear in the wind "Come down! There are things to discover down here, secrets not known in the daylit world!"
<@Dulcinea> "Well, I knew that."
<@Random_Nerd> It has some effects. It pushes on your body rather forcefully. Just... not on the flame.
<@Random_Nerd> Rinley, do you keep climbing down?

• @Hisui sticks her head down the hatch.
  

<@Sneaky-Rinley> Yeppers.
<@Hisui> "Rinley? Dulci?"
<@Dulcinea> "Hisui? You coming, or are you going to be a big chicken?"
<@Random_Nerd> The same wind effect is present when you stick your head in.
<@Hisui> "I-I'm not a chicken!"
<@Random_Nerd> Wind: "Hisui! Come down! It's time to die!"
<@Hisui> "Oh..."

• @Dulcinea slides down the ladder.
  

<@Random_Nerd> Wind: "Die down here, with us!"
<@Random_Nerd> Wind: "You'll like it down here."

• @Hisui becomes more distant and climbs down.
  

<@Dulcinea> (Can I hear that or just Hisui?)
<@Sneaky-Rinley> "This is a long climb. I don't think I've climbed this long since I was little." *climb* "I had climbed to the top of the shrine and was too tired to climb down." *climb* "Big Brother really didn't like my impression of an avalanche onto him."
<@Random_Nerd> (Only Hisui.)
<@Random_Nerd> Rinley, you reach the bottom. By your estimation, it's at least fifty feet down, which should put you somewhere below the sand.
<@Random_Nerd> Dulcinea, you hear: "Blow out the candle, little girl. You won't need the light where you're going."
<@Sneaky-Rinley> "But really, if you're too tired to climb and it's lunchtime and your big brother is calling for you to come eat, why not jump? He's your big brother. He'll catch you."
<@Random_Nerd> Rinley, you can only see faintly, even with your catlike vision. There appear to be three different ways you could go. One, impossibly, appears to be a faintly swinging wooden bridge, over some chasm you cannot see the bottom of.
<@Dulcinea> "Well, at least the voices are somewhat original."
<@Sneaky-Rinley> "And that's why I am bravely going into dark places! Because even though Big Brother is not here, I rely on me and what I can do! I do not let even gravity hold me down!" *brave pose!*
<@Random_Nerd> The other two appear to be more straightforward corridors, of rough wood.
<@Random_Nerd> (XP for Rinley, for telling a story about the situation she is in, toward Adventure Get.)
<@Dulcinea> OK, who's where?
<@Random_Nerd> There's a loud banging, up top, like a person trying to get your attention.
<@Random_Nerd> (Rinley is at the bottom of the ladder. You're at the middle, and Hisui is at the very top.)
<@Random_Nerd> How close to the top have you stayed, Hisui?
<@Hisui> Hisui's climbing down.

• @Dulcinea is sliding down.
  

<@Random_Nerd> Hisui, you see the face of one of the longshoremen, the more talkative one. "Are you still in there?"
<@Hisui> "Yes."
<@Random_Nerd> LS1: "It's nearly nightfall, and I'm pretty sure you don't want to be in there at night.
<@Random_Nerd> (It was nowhere near dusk when you stuck your head in, a minute ago.)
<@Hisui> "I don't?"
<@Random_Nerd> LS1: "I wouldn't. Would your parents want you doing that?"

• @Sneaky-Rinley looks at the pathways. "Well, I'm on an adventure. And therefore, I pick you, rickety bridge!" *heads onto bridge*
  
• @Dulcinea is looking for Rinley...
  

<@Hisui> "I don't know. They're dead."
<@Sneaky-Rinley> (Mean longshoremen! How dare you make Hi sad!)
<@Random_Nerd> Dulcinea, you can see Rinley striding off into the darkness, on a swaying rope-and-wood bridge that cannot possibly be anywhere indoors, let alone a smallish ship.
<@Sneaky-Rinley> (Would picking the unsafe option cover the XP part of 'risk trouble in the name of adventure!' ?)
<@Random_Nerd> (Sure.)

• @Dulcinea chases after Rinley...
  

<@Random_Nerd> Spooky Whispers, to Rinley: "Jump down. Come down here. The pirates are all down here."
<@Random_Nerd> Spooky Whispers: "The pirates are waiting for you."
<@Sneaky-Rinley> "So, creepy whispers, how many pirates are there?"
<@Random_Nerd> A pause.
<@Random_Nerd> "...seven?"
<@Dulcinea> (Again, just her hearing that, right?)
<@Random_Nerd> "No, more than seven. Twenty seven. Yes."
<@Sneaky-Rinley> "Only seven? How can you crew this ship with only seven pirates?"
<@Random_Nerd> (Yes, but you hear what Rinley says.)
<@Sneaky-Rinley> "Do you have trouble with counting? It's okay. A lot of people have that problem."

• @Dulcinea comes up behind Rinley. "Boo!"
  

<@Random_Nerd> Longshoreman: "Look, once the sun sets, I'm not going to be on board this thing. I'm leaving. You and your friends should leave too."

• @Sneaky-Rinley yells and grabs at the bridge ropes!
  
• Sneaky-Rinley is now known as Rinley
  
• @Hisui stares at the longshoreman, pondering.
  

<@Random_Nerd> ...hey, I just realized. Dulcinea is standing in a strong wind, above a deep chasm. Five XPs towards Above The Fray!
<@Random_Nerd> LS1: "Move it, girl!"
<@Random_Nerd> He reaches out to grab your hand.
<@Dulcinea> (Awesome!)
<@Hisui> "I...oh!"
<@Random_Nerd> Voice: "Twenty seven pirates are down here. And... rum. And cannons, and sabers. Down here in the dark."
<@Random_Nerd> Do you let him grab your arm, or pull away?
<@Dulcinea> How'd he get from the dock to the deck, though?
<@Hisui> "Dulci! Rinley! It's almost night outside!"
<@Random_Nerd> Possibly by the big plank you put there?
<@Hisui> Hisui lets him grab her arm.
<@Dulcinea> "Voices trying to spook you, right?"
<@Random_Nerd> He pulls you up. As you're being pulled up, the wind strengthens... then releases, as you get out.
<@Random_Nerd> Dulcinea, Rinley, you can hear Hisui.
<@Random_Nerd> The bridge shakes, slightly, as someone climbs onto the far end.
<@Hisui> "It's... it's strange in there. I only went in a moment ago and it wasn't this late."
<@Rinley> *to Dulci* "They're not really spooky. This one is telling me to jump down to the pirates. But he can't count. And he says they have rum, which really, he would have done better with Hi and her rum balls for that..." *looks* "Where's Hi?"
<@Random_Nerd> Longshoreman #1 spits on the deck. Not tobacco or anything, he just spits. "Are the other two still down there?"
<@Rinley> (Who's at the far end?)
<@Dulcinea> "At the top of the ladder being a wuss."
<@Rinley> "And did she just say it's almost night? It wasn't anywhere near that when I came in."
<@Random_Nerd> (You don't know! It's a long bridge, and it's really dark! You can feel their movements, but not see them.)
<@Hisui> "Yes."
<@Random_Nerd> (But from how much they displace the bridge, they're at least as heavy as a large man.)
<@Dulcinea> "Hm... I could put out this candle and let our eyes dark-adjust."
<@Rinley> "We shouldn't leave Hi alone. She could get hurt..."
<@Random_Nerd> Longshoreman #1 starts to tie a rope to his waist, and hands it to Hisui: "Give the other end of this to Jim, and tell him to start pulling, if I don't come back in five minutes."
<@Dulcinea> (Wait, is this one of those fugue-things were the rules of the world change temporarily?)
<@Random_Nerd> (Possibly, given the time-shift.)

• @Hisui grabs the rope and looks around for Jim.
  

<@Random_Nerd> Hisui, you can see that the anchor that's tied to the rope is starting to slide upward.
<@Random_Nerd> The other longshoreman is smoking a cigarette and squinting at the setting sun.
<@Hisui> "The anchor!"
<@Hisui> "Sir! The anchor!"
<@Random_Nerd> Rinley, the person on the bridge is picking up their pace.
<@Random_Nerd> LS1, shouting: "What anchor?"

• @Hisui points to the anchor that is sliding upward.
  

<@Random_Nerd> He can't see it, from on the ladder.
<@Rinley> *to the person on the bridge* "Who's there?"
<@Hisui> "It's coming up!"
<@Random_Nerd> The other guy, presumably named Jim, looks at it, and grabs it immediately, pulling back.

• @Dulcinea readies the nice heavy candlestick for whoever's coming...
  

<@Dulcinea> "Who's there?"
<@Hisui> (Pac-Man)
<@Random_Nerd> Dulcinea, you hear someone coming down the ladder and shouting: "Get out of there now! This is a bad place to be. And... shut up, there's no way my wife could be down here!"
<@Dulcinea> "I've been in worse."
<@Random_Nerd> Other end of the bridge: *bregins to run*
<@Rinley> (Toward or away?)
<@Hisui> "Mr. Jim? I'm supposed to give you this rope."
<@Random_Nerd> LS1: "Look, I have to go. If you're going to stay, it's going to be on your own. Come out with me, please."
<@Random_Nerd> Jim rolls his eyes, and holds the rope with one hand and the anchor with the other.
<@Dulcinea> How far away is the guy on the bridge?
<@Random_Nerd> They'll reach Rinley in about twenty seconds.
<@Random_Nerd> His arms, with the muscles standing out as he pulls, look almost simian. Well, like a shaved monkey. Shaved monkeys are funny. What were you thinking about again?
<@Dulcinea> (Whose arms?)
<@Random_Nerd> (Jim's, keeping the hatch from closing by holding onto the anchor.)
<@Rinley> "Dulci, hold the light up!"

• @Dulcinea is trying to see whoever's coming down the bridge...
  

<@Random_Nerd> It's roughly humanoid, as you can begin to see it. It looks... familiar, somehow, in the way it moves.
<@Random_Nerd> Ah, that's it. It moves like the gym teacher, Mr. Rosewood.
<@Dulcinea> (So, OOC it's an ogre?)
<@Rinley> Ah. Rinley's kind of scared of Mr. Rosewood. Let's go with the nice longshoreman, shall we?
<@Dulcinea> "Is that the gym teacher?"
<@Random_Nerd> In-character. You know that Hugh's an ogre, he's not exactly secretive about it.
<@Dulcinea> "If this turns into a Scooby-Doo episode I am not going to be happy..."
<@Rinley> "But is it a real ogre or just a manifestation of my fears of Mr. Rosewood and of playing dodgeball..."
<@Random_Nerd> The longshoreman who is not Jim is nearly at the bottom of the ladder now.
<@Random_Nerd> Rinley, it will reach you in five seconds.
<@Random_Nerd> Four.
<@Rinley> "Shall we go home for tea now, Dulci?"
<@Random_Nerd> Three.
<@Random_Nerd> Two.
<@Dulcinea> "Why not?"
<@Random_Nerd> One.

• @Rinley runs for the ladder.
  
• @Dulcinea heads back toward the ladder...
  

<@Random_Nerd> Rinley, you're faster than it.
<@Random_Nerd> The other longshoreman turns, looking at whatever was chasing you.
<@Random_Nerd> Then he makes an "urk" sound in his throat, tugs on the rope, and runs for the ladder.
<lazarus> (apologies once againf or having forgotten. I will certainly not forget next week!)
<@Random_Nerd> It... doesn't actually catch him. Quite. But from the sound it makes, its claws just cut his leg pretty deep.

• @Dulcinea does the better-part-of-valor thing and runs for it.
  

<@Random_Nerd> So, everyone is scampering up the ladder?
<@Hisui> (Take care, Laz!)
<@Dulcinea> (Cya next week!)
<@Random_Nerd> (See you next week.)
<@Rinley> (Nighters, Laz!)

• lazarus Quit (Disintegrated: Leaving�)
  

<@Rinley> (Indeed, scamper.)
<@Random_Nerd> The presumable ogre can't actually climb the ladder. But it can shake it.

• @Rinley is muttering about how she's really sorry, mr longshoreman, please don't be hurt too bad, it's all her fault...
  

<@Random_Nerd> Voice, oddly quiet but seemingly coming from the ogre: "But Rinley! The pirates!"
<@Random_Nerd> Dulcinea, you were closest to the ladder when everyone went for it, so you reach the top first.

• @Dulcinea looks down at the ogre...
  

<@Random_Nerd> It's much more primitive-looking than the two you know. Its skin is not just grey, but black, and its fangs protrude from its mouth like an anglerfish's.
<@Random_Nerd> Its hands are formed into claws, and could never hold a pencil or a football.
<@Random_Nerd> And it's really, really mad.
<@Dulcinea> Austrian accent affectation: "We'll be back."
<@Dulcinea> "Anyone got a camera?"
<@Random_Nerd> Longshoreman #1, just below Rinley: "You really shouldn't. This... this isn't really a ship, I don't think."
<@Rinley> *to the voice* "I know, but I'm not supposed to be out late at night. And it shouldn't be night yet, so where's the good host-ness of that, huh?"
<@Random_Nerd> No answer.
<@Rinley> (Doesn't Dulci have photographic memory?)
<@Random_Nerd> Rinley, you reach the top.

• @Rinley flops out of the hatch.
  

<@Dulcinea> (Hm... if I could put together a picture of it to show around...)

• @Hisui helps pull on the rope
  

<@Random_Nerd> The other longshoreman reaches the top, too. As soon as he's clear, Jim lets go of the anchor with a pained grunt, and the hatch slams shut hard enough that it could have taken off an arm.
<@Random_Nerd> The anchor actually goes flying, and just misses the back of Hisui's head.
<@Hisui> "!"
<@Dulcinea> "That's unusual."
<@Rinley> (Hi, what's your emotion XP trigger?)
<@Random_Nerd> Jim looks like he would really like to say a bunch of sailorly words, but is not the sort of man who does so in the presence of children.
<@Hisui> (worry!)
<@Rinley> (Then take one, because Rinley was worried about you up here all alone.)
<@Random_Nerd> The sun sets.
<@Random_Nerd> As it does, the hatch slams open again.
<@Dulcinea> (It shouldn't, right?)
<@Random_Nerd> (The sun? Nope. You've got a pretty good sense of time, and you should have had another three hours, easy.)
<@Hisui> "What? Why did it open again?"
<@Rinley> "Why did the sun set? We weren't in there that long..."
<@Random_Nerd> Voices, this time audible to everyone: "Just missed you. Won't miss again. Come back, little candy girl. Die into us."
<@Dulcinea> "Forget it, Rinley, this is Fortitude."

• @Hisui steps closer to the hatch and pauses.
  

<@Random_Nerd> The nameless longshoreman pushes Rinley down the gangplank not hard enough to hurt, but hard enough that she'd have to try really hard to not be pushed along.

• @Dulcinea debarks.
  

<@Rinley> "Come on, Hi!"
<@Random_Nerd> Voices: "Death isn't like you think. There are things to hear, things to feel. Die into us."
<@Hisui> "What sorts of things?"
<@Random_Nerd> First Longshoreman, repeating: "That is not a ship."
<@Rinley> *to the voices* "You can't have her! She's ours! She's mine, you hear?!?"
<@Random_Nerd> Voices: "Come and see."

• @Dulcinea leans in close to Hisui and says "We're not prepared for this.
  

<@Dulcinea> "We should come back when we are."
<@Hisui> "But what if it's right?"
<@Dulcinea> (Granted, that violates 'Friendless' a bit...)
<@Random_Nerd> LS1: "I'm not prepared for this, and I once bit a piece off of someobody's nose. You're, what, eleven?"
<@Random_Nerd> LS: "Uh... don't worry, he was a bad guy and he had it coming."
<@Random_Nerd> Jim: "Yup."
<@Rinley> "If it's right, then it shoudn't mind waiting a while! And it could be a lot more hospitable!"
<@Dulcinea> "About Death not being like you think? That's a given. You haven't been through it.
<@Random_Nerd> Hisui, you're the only one on board now. What do you do?
<@Dulcinea> (Actually, it looks like I stayed behind when Hisui did.)

• @Hisui bites her lip.
  

<@Random_Nerd> (Ah, okay.)
<@Random_Nerd> Voices: "We'll be waiting for you. All of you."

• @Hisui tosses a candy down the hatch.
  
• @Dulcinea gently pulls Hisui away from the hatch.
  

<@Hisui> "I'll be waiting for you."
<@Dulcinea> "I don't think you'd like the whole death thing.

• @Hisui goes to the gang plank.
  

<@Random_Nerd> Voices: "...thank you."
<@Dulcinea> "I remember being bored silly until I came back."
<@Hisui> "You died?"
<@Dulcinea> "Long story."
<@Random_Nerd> LS1, to Jim: "I'm going to that terrible fish diner. You wanna come?"
<@Random_Nerd> Jim: "Yep."
<@Random_Nerd> They start to wander off to Kakeru Hut.
<@Hisui> "Could you tell the abridged version?"
<@Dulcinea> "Short version is, fireworks enhance magic rituals from a distance."
<@Hisui> "That was, maybe, too abridged."
<@Random_Nerd> (Dulcinea does, in fact, have an ability on her character sheet that allows her to come back from the dead.)
<@Dulcinea> "Eh, I got better."
<@Dulcinea> "Still got my eyebrows, too."

• @Rinley 's eyes sparkle. "That is a great story, Dulci! I never knew you could do that!"
  

<@Hisui> "That's....good."
<@Random_Nerd> (So, are the two of you staying on the ship, or leaving?)
<@Hisui> leaving
<@Dulcinea> (We were headed down the gangplank)
<@Random_Nerd> (Because, I need to call it a night, like, now.)
<@Random_Nerd> (Ah, okay. Shall we end the session on that line?)
<@Dulcinea> (Sure.)

STOP

• Hisui is now known as Verithe
  

<@Dulcinea> hm. I may have played Dulc too friendly.
<@Random_Nerd> So, was that at least tolerable?
<@Verithe> Yes!
<@Dulcinea> don't think I got any O_O XP
<@Dulcinea> yes.
<@Random_Nerd> You got six!
<@Random_Nerd> Oh, from your emotion.
<@Random_Nerd> Oh, and don't worry, after you've dealt with the Prince of Cats, there will still be a "ghost pirate ship" for you to explore.
<@Dulcinea> Maybe I can get credit for Group Cohesiveness.
<@Verithe> Dulci did glue us.
<@Random_Nerd> Just view it as The Incomperable D'Avignon being able to enlighten lesser mortals by sharing of her impressive experience!
<@Dulcinea> Also, since what happened keeps playing out in numerous nightmares, she's seen this.
<@Dulcinea> and is non-plussed.
<@Random_Nerd> Besides, if Dulcinea didn't on some level want friends, that wound wouldn't give her any powers.
<@Random_Nerd> It's not like she gets special mojo from not owning a walrus, after all.
<@Dulcinea> Ooh, point
<@Dulcinea> Of course, she wants to come back and ghost-bust the entire ship...
<@Random_Nerd> Oh, of course.
<@Random_Nerd> Just have to make some proton packs first?
<@Dulcinea> More like put together the right banishment rituals.
<@Random_Nerd> Potato, potAto.
<@Dulcinea> Although this gets back to our discussion about 'mundane magic equipment'
<@Random_Nerd> Some of the Shrine Families have that kind of power.
<@Random_Nerd> And your thing can mimic those abilities.

• Dulcinea is now known as Knockwood
  

<@Verithe> Not the Watanabes
<@Random_Nerd> For that matter, working out the region properties of Ghost Pirate Ship (TM!) and tinkering with them could be useful.

• Rinley is now known as BethE
  

<@BethE> Brain not working. Good night, guys. *HUGS*
<@Knockwood> g'night Beth
<@Verithe> Good night1
<@Knockwood> Well, we should have Laz back next week
<@Random_Nerd> G'night, all.