Airship Pirates, Chapter 1: Isabel

[liefone]

"Umm... Lightning.. Has this habit... of... popping up in the most unexpected places..." Leana said, moving a amulet from under her shirt and admiring it.

[Graybeard]

Uh, oh, Rip thought. What have I gotten into here? Well, it was too late to back out now, and the crew was down at least three men, after all...

A few minutes later, they were landing on the airship, watched intently by the first mate. That was fine; he'd a lot rather talk to her than to the captain, the relative probabilities of off-the-wall orders being what they were. "Kattie, we've found them."

[Sareth]

"Excellent! Marvelous! Wonderful!" Kattie beamed. "None of THAT sorry lot found a thing." She jerked her thumb over her shoulder to where half the crew suddenly cringed and slunk away. "So, where are those sorry sons of dockside who"

"Horses?" a crewman interrupted.

"Only if they're from the Southern Continent," Kattie replied. "Come on up to the chartroom, you can show us on the map. We'll get the... er... Rip? Who is this?" Kattie glowered at the newcomer.

[Graybeard]

"A, er, local guide I found down there who knew how to lead me to the Queen A," Rip hemmed and hawwed. Really, what else was there to say? "Oh, her name is ..." Damned if I know. "This is Kattie Amhurst, first mate of the Bonny Read," he said, turning to Leana and hoping that the incomplete sentence would be overlooked.

[OOC: While Kattie is framing a snide response and/or the amulet is about to do something, a question: what are we going to do about the crew members who aren't playing any more? There were some very interesting and colorful characters there -- Tom, Garlock the Destroyer, XZen, etc. -- and it seems a shame to write them off.]

[liefone]

Leana stoped admiring the amulet, "My name, why, I believe-" stopping abruptly, "Well... You can can call me Leana. And I ain't local, I been traveling for a bit now."

OOC: We could try sending private messages to the other players if that has not been tried yet, to inform them.

[Sareth]

"I didn't ask what I can call you. I asked who you were." Kattie glowered at the girl. "Well, whatever. I'll just call you airman third class. Quarters are one level up. Pick a bunk." She paused a second. "An empty one. Unless you plan to use all of 'em. And I don't recommend that. At least one person's got an itch." She pointedly did not look at Rip. "Now, would you two care to tell me where that bonnie wee airship is?"

[OOC]NPC them? I agree, they were a blast. It would be good to keep them around. I was particularly fond of our young cook's "esentryk speleeng."[/OOC]

[Graybeard]

"That-a-way," Rip and Thurston said at the same time, and pointed. However, they were pointing in exactly opposite directions. "Oops," Rip said. "I think we got turned around coming up the hatch to the chart room. It's really that way." He pointed again, this time in a direction at right angles to where they'd been pointing before ...

... And, of course, Thurston was again pointing in the direction opposite his own.

"RAAWK! We turned clockwise comin' up here, boss, not counterclockwise!" the parrot squawked.

Rip facepalmed. Why do they make those damned familiars indestructible? "Whatever," he sniffed. "It's behind a high ridge on the far side of the little town. Should be right about here." He tapped the chart.

Or not. "Uh, boss, ain't that the map of Isabel, where we started from?" Thurston said.

"No cigars for you for the next week," Rip said through tight lips, and unrolled a different chart.

[OOC: Two-pronged approach works for me. I'll p-mess some people, and feel free to chime in for Tom or Garlock or whoever until their "owners" respond, if they ever do.]

[Sareth]

Katie nodded. "Right. Good enough. I'll go inform the captain. You get her bunked down, show her around. Don't take too long though. I'll want the engines at full capacity soon."

With that Katie moved forward to knock on the door to the Captain's cabin, then opened it, allowing the sound of a particularly odd rant about custards and Lilliputians to slip out.

[liefone]

First Leana pauses for a moment, then burst out in laughter; "So this is were normal humans are found! I should'a found one of these sooner!"

[Graybeard]

Rip cocked an eye at Leana, aped by Thurston. "Your definition of what 'normal humans' are like sounds ... interesting. Let me make some introductions." [OOC: This is mainly for the purpose of resetting the PCs who've been here before but got quiet when the thread went into hibernation. It'd be great if some of you folks came back! /OOC:]

"This is XZen Dvorak, former Veracian priest, and apparently the only other half way competent hang glider pilot we've got." He indicated the man that had followed them back to the ship. (Where were all the others who'd gone out on hang gliders? He decided he didn't really want to think about it.)

"Garlock, and his cat Mittens," he said, indicating a cloaked man who wasn't getting too close to them. "Potent magic user, he blows stuff up, saved my ass in a little dust-up with that other airship the other day." He decided not to mention the magical grossness that Garlock had dumped on the town where Leana came from, just in case some of it had actually made it to the ground; why create unnecessary trouble?

"Reyn, traveling entertainer." A long-haired man carrying a rifle and a violin case. "Remarkably enough, what's in the violin case is really a violin."

He indicated a small, skinny youth. "Tom Brambil. This is the one you want to stay on the good side of." Seeing Leana's surprised look, he decided to elaborate. "All of the others can kill you with one hand, or one spell, or one gun. Tom's the ship's cook ... and he can fix stuff that'll make you wish you were dead." He smiled and winked at the kid; he'd always liked Tom, actually. "Doc Barrel is down in his lab. You really don't want to run into him. And finally..."

The airship had that slight change of trim again, as a familiar mountain of flesh emerged on the deck, ducking his head as he went through the nearly seven-foot-tall hatch.

"Shorty."

[OOC: Did I forget anyone?]