Southern Continent: Picking Up The Pieces

For in-universe game play. Journey through both familiar and foreign settings, explore lost ruins and forgotten cities, and try to bring light to the darkness of the world... or, you know, blow stuff up. Either way.
Post Reply
User avatar
Graybeard
The Heretical Admin
Posts: 7180
Joined: August 20th, 2007, 8:26 am
Location: Nuevo Mexico y Colorado, Estados Unidos

Re: Southern Continent: Picking Up The Pieces

Post by Graybeard »

[OOC: Great minds think alike; I already had this scene in mind when you all but pre-empted it ... As for Tamina's question, see this moment (and a couple of posts above it) from the very beginning of Errant Road -- which, as it turns out, was directly ancestral to the whole years-long main thread. I have no idea whether Rip would know about this. Anyway:']

As if on cue, Thurston came winging back and alit, but unusually, he didn't ask for his cigar.

"RAAWWK. Dorrie, that's her name, says there's something great big and weird-looking on up ahead." He looked Rip up and down. "For perspective, she says you're weird-looking too."

Rip looked like he was groping for a fitting insult in return, but Thurston didn't give him time to get it out. "Now 'scuse me, you're gonna have to go it alone for a little while. She invited me back to her nest for drinks and ... conversation."

I didn't even know parrots had eyebrows, Rip marveled. but somehow, Thurston waggled his a couple of times and flew off without another word.
Image

Because old is wise, does good, and above all, kicks ass.
User avatar
Jack Rothwell
Teller of Tales
Posts: 2405
Joined: June 17th, 2010, 7:35 am
Location: Liverpool, England

Re: Southern Continent: Picking Up The Pieces

Post by Jack Rothwell »

"Big and weird-looking." Tamina shrugged. "Any more details?"

"We're kind of experts on the wildlife here." Alleece added.
User avatar
Graybeard
The Heretical Admin
Posts: 7180
Joined: August 20th, 2007, 8:26 am
Location: Nuevo Mexico y Colorado, Estados Unidos

Re: Southern Continent: Picking Up The Pieces

Post by Graybeard »

Rip wished Thurston was around for further questioning, but the familiar had disappeared in the direction of "Dorrie's" nest. Presently there were quiet RRAAWWKKs in harmony, sort of, from that direction out in the distance. He had no idea how long parrot mating normally took, but he was pretty sure he wasn't going to see Thurston again for a little while.

"Well," he said, "let's look on the bright side. Thurston said his new girlfriend thinks I'm 'weird-looking' too. Probably she's never seen humans before." He chuckled. "I'd certainly be surprised if she'd ever seen a human like Shorty, at least. So maybe it's him that's causing all the fuss and commotion, dead or alive ... hm, can't believe I said that."

He got gathered up, making sure that one of Thurston's cigars was close at hand for ... afterward. A kobold led -- they knew the forest better than he did -- while another one took up the rear, for the same reason.

[OOC: Want to fast-forward until we find Shorty? Or do you want to have some fun with two kobolds and a noob in the jungle? Your call.]
Image

Because old is wise, does good, and above all, kicks ass.
User avatar
Jack Rothwell
Teller of Tales
Posts: 2405
Joined: June 17th, 2010, 7:35 am
Location: Liverpool, England

Re: Southern Continent: Picking Up The Pieces

Post by Jack Rothwell »

The trek through the undergrowth passed in relative silence with the kobolds taking point. Tamina was glad of the distraction; being the defacto elder in the absence of a candidate with the necessary experience being put forward had knocked the bounce out of her stride since she'd returned home. She reflected how surprised her friends overseas would've been at her change in demeanor. Alleece, knowing her companion well, had opted not to engage until she was ready, instead schooling their tourist comrade with half-truths and outright lies.

"You see this rut here? A garlop herd came through not too long. They're like pigs except they're carnivorous. They've got fangs like daggers and barbs on their tails, and they HATE anyone who's got bacon on their breath.... you... err... haven't eaten anything like that lately, have you?"

Tamina stifled a smirk, maybe her sense of humour wasn't completely gone after all.
User avatar
Graybeard
The Heretical Admin
Posts: 7180
Joined: August 20th, 2007, 8:26 am
Location: Nuevo Mexico y Colorado, Estados Unidos

Re: Southern Continent: Picking Up The Pieces

Post by Graybeard »

Garlop Rip mused. Garlop ... have I ever heard of them? He decided not. He also decided that the kobolds must be pulling his leg. Tamina hadn't seemed like the type to run straight toward danger, unlike, say, that overstuffed Tsuirakuan soldier or that crazy girl on the airship. Either way, he'd just go along with them, since they didn't appear suicidal. Besides, there might be a paper in there somewhere. He settled for a simple "No" and kept walking.

Whatever a garlop was [OOC: I did look at the description in the bestiary, but Rip of course did not ... /OOC:], the trio continued to follow the track left by the undeniably real carnivore, until they came across another artifact: what he recognized as a small piece of the airship's mooring line. It gave him something of a start at first, looking as it did like a snake (he'd heard of something called the "hundred-pace snake" that was definitely real and scary, and supposedly plentiful in the Southern Continent's jungles), but the start passed quickly. "Looks like we're on the right track," he said, trying to sound nonchalant.
Image

Because old is wise, does good, and above all, kicks ass.
User avatar
Jack Rothwell
Teller of Tales
Posts: 2405
Joined: June 17th, 2010, 7:35 am
Location: Liverpool, England

Re: Southern Continent: Picking Up The Pieces

Post by Jack Rothwell »

"Err, that doesn't look good." Alleece observed at the sight of the airship debris. The group became aware of the strong smell of smoke on the air, the kobolds could hear a faint crackling noise associated with burning wood that implied the vessel had been more than a tad combustible. Tamina refrained from giving their companion details for fear of stressing Rip out unnecessarily.

"Should be there soon. Barring any...."

"SHREEEEEEEEKAKAKAKKAKAKAKAKAKAKA!!"

The sudden blast of noise gave a violent start to the party before sanity reasserted itself. Tamina looked up and chuckled. In the tree nearby was a tiny monkey-like creature. It hung from a branch with berries in it's paws and a scowl on it's face.

"A heeka." She supplied. "Don't get close. Probably got a gah… erm… in-fant close by."

"She's not kidding." Alleece added. "They get very scratchy."
User avatar
Graybeard
The Heretical Admin
Posts: 7180
Joined: August 20th, 2007, 8:26 am
Location: Nuevo Mexico y Colorado, Estados Unidos

Re: Southern Continent: Picking Up The Pieces

Post by Graybeard »

[OOC: I always appreciate your creativity with forest critters, seeing that there really weren't any in Errant Story proper and they've been de-emphasized in most of Errant Road.]

"Thanks for the explanation," Rip said, a little more relief in his voice; that call had been ... unsettling. "We'll leave it and its, uh, 'gah,' was it?, alone."

He fingered the coiled piece of line reflexively as they got going again; and as he did, he became aware of something. "Look at this."

One end of the rope looked like it had been burned through, just as one might have expected following a fiery crash of a flaming airship. The other end, however, had been sliced neatly, in a way that Rip was quite sure had not been done on board ship.

"Three possibilities," he mused aloud. "The one we hope for is that Shorty made this cut, which would mean he's alive and well, or at least well enough to wield a machete. The second is that somebody from your village already found this." A glance at the kobolds suggested that this one was unlikely ... which left the one that he didn't want to think about. "The third is that something was here that had jaws strong enough to bite cleanly through this rope ... in which case I don't want to run into it." He shuddered and fell back into line, watching his surroundings a little more attentively than he had been.
Image

Because old is wise, does good, and above all, kicks ass.
User avatar
Jack Rothwell
Teller of Tales
Posts: 2405
Joined: June 17th, 2010, 7:35 am
Location: Liverpool, England

Re: Southern Continent: Picking Up The Pieces

Post by Jack Rothwell »

OOC Thanks man. I aim to please. :) /OOC

Tamina examined the rope closely; the mage didn't have anything more sophisticated than the mark I eyeball to give her information and there wasn't much information to be obtained.

"Killikah, kobolds, usually carry spears and bows out in the wild." She said. "Wouldn't make a cut like this... unless..."

"This IS Uran tribe territory." Alleece chipped in. "They're a lot more enthusiastic about weapon variety. They've got a big community that're on the hunt for the weapons you humans like to use."

"Thought I saw a few of them when I was at the port. But if they got to your friend first..."

"They... don't like outsiders much. And by outsiders I mean independent tribespeople like us. As for humans..."

"Poachers and slavers haven't left the best impression." Tamina made a sour face at the mention of the latter; her first experience leaving the southern continent had been at the hands of them after all.
User avatar
Graybeard
The Heretical Admin
Posts: 7180
Joined: August 20th, 2007, 8:26 am
Location: Nuevo Mexico y Colorado, Estados Unidos

Re: Southern Continent: Picking Up The Pieces

Post by Graybeard »

Uran ... Uran ... Don't think I've heard of them, Rip thought. Well, there were many things on this continent that he hadn't heard of. He marched along in silence with the kobolds for a considerable time, until they found the next thing that didn't belong in this jungle.

"Shorty's parachute," he breathed. He didn't need any magical forensics to figure that out. The cloth matched the shred they'd seen earlier. There was good news and bad news that became apparent on inspection. The good news was that the buckles had been opened on the straps of the harness that he would have worn. Good; that meant that Shorty was alive when he got out of it. (Probably.) The bad news was that the chute had blood on it. It might have been human blood; it might not have.

"But how did this get here?" he wondered. "We're going toward where the airship crashed, not away from it. If he cut the rope, he must have done it after he got to the ground and got out of the harness. That would have to mean we're going in the opposite direction from the way he went." He paused. "Unless something big dragged this here later ... in which case I don't like the look of this blood."

[OOC: Note: possible encounter with a jungle critter of my own devising on the way ...]
Image

Because old is wise, does good, and above all, kicks ass.
User avatar
Jack Rothwell
Teller of Tales
Posts: 2405
Joined: June 17th, 2010, 7:35 am
Location: Liverpool, England

Re: Southern Continent: Picking Up The Pieces

Post by Jack Rothwell »

Tamina looked with apprehension at the blood on the parachute, making a mental note to never, ever use one of those things if she could possibly help it. Jumping out of an airship with your trust in an oversized tablecloth to guide you to the earth sounded like an elaborate suicide attempt to her.

"He dint come our way. We'd have seen him. There's a few tracks in this place." She pointed at breaks in the foliage and crushed grass here and there. "Old dropla trail is the big one. It's a rhino-thing. Some parrahal came through that way..."

"Big birds. They don't fly... or eat people." Alleece supplied.

"Don't see anything carny... erm… car-niv-or-us big enough to take your friend 'less it's something smart enough to cover it's tracks."

"Maybe the answers'll be at the crash site?" Alleece queried. "You want to keep going or change course?"
Post Reply