Saus

As we play, occasionally we'll close a thread and open a new one to keep the size of threads (and relative complexity) down to a dull roar. Here's where we store the closed posts from the history of Errant Road.
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Graybeard
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Re: Saus

Post by Graybeard »

While Sasha and Argus applied themselves to breakfast, Brother Miguel and Sister Rose studied the map.

"Looks like there are basically two possibilities," Rose said. "We can backtrack through Homontel and go down to the Lorenzel Estuary, then follow the river around to Ramanzel. Or we can take the direct route through the wilds. Know anything about that area?"

"Not really," Miguel said. "This business about 'travel not recommended without guides' bothers me. Is that because the terrain is messy, or the natives aren't friendly, or ... something else?"

"Your guess is as good as mine. It was an area just described as 'badlands' in school, and I've never met anyone who's been through there. There have been weird stories about unfriendly locals, but I'm not sure how reliable they are. Of course, the natives aren't going to be friendly on the road through Homontel, either, at least while Departure is on. Let's see what Sasha knows about that area, if anything."
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Graybeard
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Re: Saus

Post by Graybeard »

[OOC: Sorry for the twofer here, but we need to keep this going...]

Meanwhile, somewhere to the south, an encounter was taking place -- almost.

Damn, Father Egbert thought from his hiding place. They're from the Convergence. I can just feel it.

Three people were poking around in the ruin, or more accurately, the younger two were poking around while the older man watched, weapon in hand. It looked like one of the pair, probably the girl, was a magic user of some sort; at one point, they tried to move a heavy capstone that was blocking a stairwell (one that led absolutely nowhere, as he'd established, but the other three didn't know that), and when it wouldn't move, she muttered something that caused the stone to split in half. When they discovered the impenetrable mass at the bottom, they cursed and turned around.

"Keep at it," the older man yelled in their direction. "You saw the campfire. He's gotta be around here somewhere."

I can't take the three of them, Egbert thought. If I could just get close enough to the older guy without being detected, I could get him, and I'm pretty sure the other two would run, they don't seem able to function without a leader ... but I can't. All I can do is wait. He concentrated on remaining still and quiet, which wasn't difficult from a purely physical point of view, but was emotionally taxing, to put it mildly...
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Drannin
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Re: Saus

Post by Drannin »

Argus looked at the map while Sister Rose and Brother Miguel conferred with Sasha. "Travel not recommended without guide," he read aloud. "Wonder what that means."

"Well, Boss, I think it means you shouldn't go there without someone 'sperienced to, ya know, guide you."

Argus sighed. "Yes Harker. I was wondering why a guide was so important."

"...Cause travel is not recommended without..."

"I was looking for specifics."

"Oh." Harker thought about it for a moment. "Crazy nightlife you need a guide to get through. I ran into that once."

"Wha..." Argus took a long look at Harker. And decided that he had a new champion on his mental list of things he didn't want to know.
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Graybeard
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Re: Saus

Post by Graybeard »

[OOC: Paging Viking-Sensei! We really need Sasha to help explain why travel in the region they're about to head into isn't "recommended"...]

"Rose, I defer to you," Brother Miguel said. "You're at least ... indirectly ... more up on the hazards of this area than any of the rest of us except maybe Sasha. Your call." Was that delicate enough? I really don't want to cause her any more pain...

Sister Rose pondered a long minute. "Well ... To tell the truth, the notion of going through at least five towns during Departure, plus who knows how many more that aren't on the map, doesn't sound very good to me. At the very least, I'd bet that Father Egbert didn't go through them, or isn't going to, if he remembers that it's Departure time. Being a Millenarian, he's almost certain to remember. Going this other way, we might have some chance of running into him, even if we don't know anything about it -- as I don't."

Now it was Miguel's turn to ponder for a minute. "Okay, let's get packed up, then. That'll give us time to think one last time about whether we're missing something. Incidentally, I just had a thought: wonder what it'll mean to have the Cardinal Inquisitor showing up at the mission during Departure?" Rose cocked an eyebrow and became even more contemplative than usual...

----------

The three searchers were heading toward the opposite side of the ruins, away from his hiding place, Egbert noticed. That was good. With any kind of luck they'd lose interest soon and get on their way. That would pose some problems, to be sure; they'd surely be between him and where he was trying to go, and he'd have to devote some attention -- and some mana -- to evading them. But it was just as surely better than having a confrontation here.

They'd disappeared from view now, apparently into a large structure that he'd given a cursory check before going to ground here. Nothing of any obvious significance remained there. It was old as the hills, and if there'd ever been anything in it worth looting, someone had done the job eons ago. There weren't even any good places for a man to hide. Pretty soon they'd lose interest and --

Uh, oh. What was that? Egbert felt, rather than heard, a contra-bass rumble that seemed to be emanating from the structure. A moment later, he definitely felt the ground tremble, slightly but perceptibly.

And a moment after that, the three searchers emerged from the structure, running at top speed for their horses, which they mounted and spurred into a frantic gallop, careening down the road.

I stand corrected; this is not good, Egbert thought as the trembling of the ground intensified incrementally.
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Viking-Sensei
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Re: Saus

Post by Viking-Sensei »

[OOC: Graybeard's map and the mysterious region of trecherous territory for some reason caused me to think of Centraila... so we'll be using that as source material for the next little bit]

Sasha flipped through several of her guide books, looking for information on the route. "You know, that's really odd... I have a couple of very old guide book, and they mention a fairly large town called Centoriel that's supposed to be about half-way along this route... but then, in the guide books made newer than about 40 years ago, it's like Centoriel just vanished off the maps and was replaced with warnings about not going this route."

She handed the books over to Harker and Argus for their inspections. "So... has anyone here ever heard of Centoriel? In my anthropoligist-in-training experience, towns the size it was supposed to be don't just... vanish... without a really good reason. Usually they dwindle first, their population drifting away to the nearest supportable city, before they slip into the burg category, then village, then 'interesting named crossroad where a town used to be'."
How could a plan this awesome possibly fail?
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Drannin
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Re: Saus

Post by Drannin »

"Centoriel... that name sounds familiar..." Argus pondered the map in front of him. "Harker, do you remember hearing about a Centoriel a while back, while we were still in Tsuirakushiti?"

Harker frowned impressively. "I think so... there was some scholarly treatise that came out discussin' it. But we were in the middle of settin' up the TAP at the time, so..." Harker shrug, trailing off. There was something about Harker saying 'scholarly treatise' that made the others blink. It wasn't the word combination that you would associate with a voice like that.

"Oh, right... yeah, I was a little focused at the time on other matters, but there was definitely a blow-up between Tsuiraku and Veracia over some matter of archaeology... politics got involved, and it degenerated into a shouting match before everyone went home and started sulking again." Argus considered. "Of course, 'archaeological find' is a pretty loose term. It could mean anything from "these ruins are sorta unstable, better keep away,' to 'dangerous ancient superweapon, go away!' Or, I don't know, maybe it was just home to a bunch of giant swamp beavers. Who can say?"

Sasha's expression at 'giant swamp beavers' was worth the effort of putting it into his discourse.
Last edited by Drannin on January 7th, 2009, 11:32 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Graybeard
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Re: Saus

Post by Graybeard »

[OOC:
Viking-Sensei wrote:[OOC: Graybeard's map and the mysterious region of trecherous territory for some reason caused me to think of Centraila... so we'll be using that as source material for the next little bit]
That's a very interesting story. The situation I had in mind was a little different, although Centralia certainly serves as a great model for our story here. Until very recently, Rand-McNally maps of southern Utah had the notation "travel in this area not recommended without guides" just as on this map, not because of underground fires or hostile Indians (although the region overlapped with the Navajo reservation) but because the terrain was so rough and the roads so awful that they killed cars. I had an experience out there once that made me wish I had a guide... But back to the story:]

"Interesting," Sister Rose said. "You've got me remembering something from my childhood. I was raised in the Orthodox church, at least as a young girl, and our religious-education teachers --" she would have preferred a significantly less polite term for them -- "told us all sorts of stories from scriptures that we of the Reformed branch consider -- I guess I would say 'not divinely inspired.' One was a story of how, in ancient times, the land itself rose up in rebellion against Luminosita until it was struck down in fire. The Reformed position on that story has always been that it's part myth and metaphor, part an embellishment of the real-world fact that there has been serious volcanic activity over in northern Farrel in historic times. But Sasha, your explanation gets me wondering: could it have some basis in fact connected with this plot of land and the disappearance of Centoriel? More implausible things have happened."

"I don't know," Brother Miguel said, "but let's go find out. The more I think about it, the more I think it would be a mistake to go through the towns to the east. Almost certainly, Father Egbert isn't there and hasn't been. And going there during Departure is probably not a great idea."

"Agreed," Rose confirmed. "I'm not wild about passing through this Centoriel or what's left of it, but it's probably the lesser evil. So let's move. But first, if you don't mind..."

Rose's eyes got that glow that Argus had seen before, and reality blurred for a moment. The nun's form was replaced by that of a lean, spare (but still decidedly attractive) woman wearing a wide-brimmed hat (its brim rakishly pinned up on one side, with a feather sticking out of it), a long-sleeved shirt with a well-worn leather vest, hiking boots, and khaki jeans that looked like they'd been in the sun for a few years. Her long brown hair was pinned back in a pony tail.

And, never to be forgotten, green eyes.

"I've always wanted to do that," Rose said with a smile. "Now let's go have an adventure, find a lost ark or a crystal skull or something -- all on the way to finding Father Egbert, of course."
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Drannin
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Re: Saus

Post by Drannin »

Argus chuckled. "Let's just hope there isn't a Temple of Doom somewhere out there."

There was a sudden silence that fell over the group. Argus considered that associating 'Temple of Doom' with 'potentially dangerous hinterland' was not one of his smoother statements. Hell with it. He was dying anyway. "Er... sorry. I withdraw the comment."

"Hope it won't be our last crusade," piped up Harker.

"Not now, Harker."

"You started it, Boss."

Technically, Sister Rose started it, but Argus wasn't going to go there.

"Shall we?" he asked the group at large, desperately trying to change the subject.
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Graybeard
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Re: Saus

Post by Graybeard »

Before the wagon could get moving, the daily parrot arrived from the army base and exchanged code words with Sister Rose.

TO: Brother Miguel and Sister Rose
FROM: COL Bogiel, B.
SUBJ: News from Kiyoka
FOUO

Thanks for your last. The heads-up about the flying creature is appreciated. There have been reported sightings in the mountains, including one that sounded like it was carrying away a swamp beaver. No reported attacks on humans. We'll keep an eye on this.

Not much from Kiyoka. Sister Margaret says that CPT Kitaura (she says the name will mean something to you) has returned to Kiyoka and resumed his "hostile indifference" to the mission. She says he is annoyed that "Dr. Cleivan" (did I spell that right?) has not been in contact with him. Can you explain what he means by that? Sister Margaret wants to give this Kitaura a response of some kind.

Best wishes as you face Departure. With the Orthodox priests' teeth pulled, you're pretty well on your own in the towns of what we have started to call "Godforsakenstan." I'd recommend a low profile for the next three days, because we're not going to be able to help you much either. I'll try to have a word with a friend at the naval base at Lorenzel -- do either of you remember CDR Lauriel? -- but best to plan to be self-sufficient, and out of sight.

Bernie

"Well, this looks like good news and bad news," Rose said as she put the horses into motion. "Reading between the lines, he seems to be agreeing that we're better off going through the wilderness. On the other hand, the lack of help is unfortunate, although not unexpected. We should probably craft something for Margaret to give Kitaura."

"Somehow I don't think 'up yours, you weren't any help while you were here' is the right message," Brother Miguel smiled. "It's tempting, though." He caught a smirk from Argus that seemed to constitute agreement, at least with the latter part...
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Drannin
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Re: Saus

Post by Drannin »

Awww, is Kitaura all sad because I wouldn't be his running dog? Too Bad!

While honest, Argus figured that a statement like this would not prove a very diplomatic message. To put it mildly. In any case there was no point in randomly aggravating a battlemage... without carefully writing an aggravating letter. "I suppose it depends on how much we want to tell him. I vote for a very breezy overview that gives nothing away; the sort of thing where we just say 'Oops, had to run! Sorry!' But in very nice language, of course."

Harker pondered. "How about 'Please take a voyage to the island of agony and damnation?' That would get the message across."

"Not quite as subtle as I would like, Harker. But tempting, nonetheless." Argus turned serious. "I honestly wrote off Kitaura because I didn't see how he could be useful, and... well, you know my opinion on him. But this could be important. Do you suppose he's learned something notable? That he'd be willing to share with us, I mean. In that case, an information exchange could be handy." Argus shrugged. "Personally, I'd just as soon forget I met the man, but needs must."
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